author
Abigail Adams
1744–1818
A sharp-eyed observer of the American Revolution and early republic, she is remembered for letters that blend family feeling, political insight, and a clear sense of justice. Her words still feel lively today, especially when she presses the new nation to remember women as well as men.
1 Audiobook
Familiar Letters of John Adams and His Wife Abigail Adams During the Revolution with a Memoir of Mrs. Adams
by John Adams, Abigail Adams
About the author
Born Abigail Smith in Weymouth, Massachusetts, in 1744, she grew up in a learned New England family and became an avid reader despite having little formal schooling. She married John Adams in 1764, and their long correspondence became one of the richest records of private life and public affairs in Revolutionary America.
While her husband served in the Continental Congress and later in diplomatic and political posts, she managed the household and family business matters at home, raised their children, and wrote to him with unusually direct political advice. She is especially well known for urging him to "remember the ladies," a line that helped make her an enduring voice in the history of women's rights.
She later became the second First Lady of the United States, serving from 1797 to 1801, and was also the mother of John Quincy Adams, the sixth president. Beyond her famous family connections, her reputation rests on the intelligence, candor, and warmth of her letters, which offer a vivid picture of everyday life in the nation's founding era.