Abigail Adams Posters, Prints, Books, Links for Learning
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Abigail Adams b. 11-11-1744; Weymouth, MA d. 10-28-1818

Abigail Adams, née Smith, was one of the most influential women of the late 18th Century. Through her letters and diaries we know her and can gather a feminine perspective of sentiments and events at the center of the American Revolution.

Abigail Adams descended from a prestigious colonial family named Quincy, her parents were Rev. William Smith and Elizabeth Quincy. Her minister father, a Congregationalist, supported her informal education of reading which developed her ideas of women's rights and governance, and in turn indirectly influenced the founding of the United States. Gifted with a keen intellect she was first a wife and mother who believe women best served when they were educated, independent thinkers, with the legal rights such as owning property.

On October 25, 1764 Abigail Smith, age 19, married farmer, former teacher, and lawyer John Adams (1735-1826), who was to become one of the "Founding Fathers", and second President of the United States (1797-1801). She is considered the second First Lady (after Martha Washington), though the term "first lady" was not in frequent use until 1877. The Adams were the first couple to live in the newly constructed "President's House", known today as the "White House", in the federal District of Columbia.

Abigail and John Adams' children were Abigail "Nabby" Amelia Adams (1765-1813, died of breast cancer), John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) who became the sixth U.S. President, Susanna Adams (1768-1770), Charles Adams (1770-1800), and Thomas Boylston Adams (1772-1832) and a still born daughter in 1777.

	• ABIGAIL ADAMS POSTERS
	Abigail Adams Great American Women - Poster Abigail Adams b. 11-11-1744; Weymouth, MA d. 1818 Poster Text: Abigail Adams is the only woman in history who was both the wife and mother of a U.S. President. She was married to John Adams, our second President. And her oldest son, John Quincy Adams, became our nathion's sixth President. But Abigail Adams was more than a wife and mother. She was an extremely intelligent and forceful woman with strong opinions on many subjects. Abigail was born in Massachusetts in 1744 and was educated at home by her grandmother. In 1764, she married John Adams, one of the best-known lawyers in Boston. When her husband was elected President in 1796, the White House was not yet finished. In 1800, John and Abigail Adams became the first presidential couple to live in the White House. Throughout her long public life, Abigail Adams wrote hundreds of letters. Those letters paint a fascinating portrait of life in early America. They also reveal that Abigail Adams was one of the first to call for equal rights for women. In one letter to her husband she wrote that "all men would be tyrants if they could." Therefore, she insisted, a statement of the rights of women should be included in the Declaration of Independence. • more Great American Women posters • Revolutionary War posters
	Abigail Adams Giclee Print Abigail Adams, née Smith Giclee Print
	John Adams Giclee Print Gilbert Stuart John Adams b. 10-30-1735; Braintree, MA d. 7-4-1826, Braintree, MA • more presidents posters • more famous teachers posters • "The Skater" by Gilbert Stuart
	Kitchen of the Adam's Farmhouse, Photographic Print John Adams used the kitchen of his farmhouse in Braintree, Massachusetts as his law office.
	John Quincy Adams Giclee Print John Quincy Adams, b. 7-11-1767; Braintree, MA d. 2-23-1848; after collapsing on the floor of the House 2 days earlier John Quincy Adams, 6th President of the US, was the son of Abigail and John Adams.
	Draft of the Declaration of Independence in Jefferson's Handwriting, Giclee Print A committee of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston, headed by Thomas Jefferson, drafted the Declaration of Independence. • Declaration of Independence text, Library of Congress • Signers of Declaration of Independence by state
	Patience Motivational Poster Patience “Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.” John Quincy Adams • more Mind, Body, Spirit poster series

Abigail Adams Quotes

“If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.”
letter to John Adams, March 31, 1776

“I can not say that I think you very generous to the Ladies, for whilst you are proclaiming peace and good will to Men, Emancipating all Nations, you insist upon retaining an absolute power over Wives.” letter to John Adams, 1776

“Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of husbands. Remember all men would be tyrants if they could.”

“Arbitrary power is like most other things which are very hard, very liable to be broken.”

“I am more and more convinced that man is a dangerous creature and that power, whether vested in many or a few, is ever grasping, and like the grave, cries, ‘Give, give.' ” letter to John Adams, November 27, 1775

“Wisdom and penetration are the fruit of experience, not the lessons of retirement and leisure. Great necessities call forth great leaders.”

“Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence” letter to John Quincy Adams, May 8, 1780

“Well, knowledge is a fine thing, and mother Eve thought so; but she smarted so severely for hers, that most of her daughters have been afraid of it since.”

“I've always felt that a person's intelligence is directly reflected by the number of conflicting points of view he can entertain simultaneously on the same topic.“

“If we mean to have heroes, statesmen and philosophers, we should have learned women.”

“ begin to think, that a calm is not desirable in any situation in life.... Man was made for action and for bustle too, I believe.” letter to her sister, Mary Smith Cranch, 1784

“We have too many high sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them.”
letter to John Adams, 1774

"a Freeman as much as any of the young Men and merely because his Face is Black, is he to be denied instruction? How is he to be qualified to procure a livelihood? . . . I have not thought it any disgrace to my self to take him into my parlor and teach him both to read and write." explaning her actions in regard to neighbor's criticism for providing an education to a young servant, in letter to John Adams, February 13, 1791

“A little of what you call frippery is very necessary towards looking like the rest of the world.”

"...when will Mankind be convinced that true Religion is from the Heart, between Man and his creator, and not the imposition of Man or creeds and tests?" letter to daughter-in-law, Louisa, January 3, 1818

• ABIGAIL ADAMS BOOKS

Abigail Adams : A Biography - A perfect companion to David McCullough's John Adams.

The Letters of John and Abigail Adams - provide an insightful record of American life before, during, and after the Revolution.

Dearest Friend : A Life of Abigail Adams - "Dearest Friend" was the Adames' term for each other.

Abigail Adams: Girl of Colonial Days (Childhood of Famous Americans)

Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution -grades 6-12

John Adams by David McCullough-