Wounded as she was, the remark did not make Abigail Adams recede in public. She was unofficially titled " Lady Adams, " and encouraged such recognition by assuming a visible ceremonial role. With such a high profile, it could therefore hardly have been a surprise to her that slipping out one night to the Chestnut Street Theater to hear a new and stirring march written to honor President Adams while " in-cog, " would be unsuccessful.
The editor of the Aurora, an especially vicious anti-Adams newspaper immediately recognized Mrs. Often mentioned in the press, her opinions were even quoted at a New England town hall meeting. Even the private letters exchanged between the presidential couple could be purloined and intercepted by political enemies in the chain of the postal system.
Abigail Adams was livid. That man must have lost his sense It will serve as a lesson to be to be upon my guard. Adams helped forward the interests of the Administration by writing editorial letters to family and acquaintances, encouraging the publication of the information and viewpoint presented in them.
She was sarcastically attacked in the opposition press, her influence over presidential appointments questioned and there were printed suggestions that she was too aged to understand questions of the day. Indeed, Abigail Adams supported the sentiment behind her husband's Alien and Sedition Acts as a legal means of imprisoning those who criticized the President in public print.
Fearful of French revolutionary influence on the fledgling United States, she was unsuccessful in her urging the President to declare war with France. She remained an adamant advocate of equal public education for women and emancipation of African-American slaves. Her entertainments were confined to a relatively small home in Philadelphia, turned into a hotel after the capital was moved from Philadelphia to Washington, D.
Although she did host a dance for her son and his friends, she received visitors formally, seated like a royal figure as she had witnessed at Buckingham Palace. She also attempted to influence fashion, believing that the more revealing Napoleonic-style clothing then popular were too indecorous. Since presidential families were responsible for covering the costs of their entertainments and the Adamses were enduring financial difficulties at the time of his presidency, Abigail Adams's receptions were somewhat spartan.
The first First Lady to live in the White House, she resided there for four months, arriving in November In , she was solicited to join a select, all-female jury to question Massachusetts women suspected of Loyalist tendencies. It was here that Abigail performed her first public responsibility. Interestingly enough, public life did not appeal to Mrs. Assuming the role of First Lady in , Abigail did not consider this social ascension to be favorable by any means.
The distaste Abigail had for public life did not, however, detract from her commitment to her husband's presidency. When the French Revolution wreaked havoc on the Adams administration, Abigail, invested as usual, urged her husband to declare war against France.
She also encouraged newspapers to publish her editorial writings which openly supported the administration. It is believed that Abigail and John Adams exchanged more than 1, letters on topics ranging from government and politics to women's rights. Her firm views on American independence were succinctly expressed in a letter, explaining: "Let us separate, they are unworthy to be our Brethren.
Let us renounce them. Adams had initial hesitations regarding Washington as a slaveholder and member of the Virginia planter elite. However, after meeting, Adams wrote her husband that she was "struck with General Washington," and that his appointment was received with "universal satisfaction. An ardent advocate for the cause of American liberty, Adams was uniquely able to express herself with eloquence at a time when women received little formal instruction.
After learning that her husband would serve on the committee that would draft the Declaration of Independence, Adams admonished him to: "Remember the Ladies Abigail was John's all-encompassing aide-de-camp, chief of staff, and brain trust. However, her influence was not appreciated by all, particularly those who scathingly called her "Mrs.
In , she carefully handled the complex role of wife of the first United States Minister to Great Britain. And later she was wife of the first U.
Detroit: Gale, History in Context. Accessed February 2, Abigail Adams. Butterfield, L. Cambridge: Belknap Press, Roberts, Cokie. Weatherford, Doris.
New York: Macmillan General Reference, How to Cite this page. Additional Resources. Adams, Charles Francis.
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