author

Abigail Adams

1744–1818

A sharp-eyed observer of early America, she is remembered for letters that mix political insight, wit, and hard-earned practical wisdom. Her writing brings the American Revolution and the early republic to life through one intensely personal voice.

1 Audiobook

Familiar Letters of John Adams and His Wife Abigail Adams During the Revolution

Familiar Letters of John Adams and His Wife Abigail Adams During the Revolution

by Abigail Adams, John Adams

About the author

Born in Weymouth, Massachusetts, in 1744, Abigail Adams grew up in a New England family that valued learning, even though girls were rarely offered the formal education boys received. She married John Adams in 1764, and their long, lively correspondence became one of the richest records of family life, politics, and revolution in the founding era.

While her husband served in Congress, in Europe, and later as the second president of the United States, she managed the household, oversaw business matters, and raised their children through years of uncertainty and war. Her letters show a mind deeply engaged with public affairs, and she is often remembered for urging that the new nation should "remember the ladies."

Abigail Adams died in 1818, but her words have kept her vividly present in American history. Readers return to her not only for her place beside famous statesmen, but for her clarity, humor, moral seriousness, and unusually modern sense of what women could and should claim in public life.