Abigail AdamsWinner of the Bancroft Prize The New York Times Book Review, Editor’s Choice American Heritage, Best of 2009 In this vivid new biography of Abigail Adams, the most illustrious woman of the founding era, Bancroft Award–winning historian Woody Holton offers a sweeping reinterpretation of Adams’s life story and of women’s roles in the creation of the republic. Using previously overlooked documents from numerous archives, Abigail Adams shows that the wife of the second president of the United States was far more charismatic and influential than historians have realized. One of the finest writers of her age, Adams passionately campaigned for women’s education, denounced sex discrimination, and matched wits not only with her brilliant husband, John, but with Thomas Jefferson and George Washington. When male Patriots ignored her famous appeal to "Remember the Ladies," she accomplished her own personal declaration of independence: Defying centuries of legislation that assigned married women’s property to their husbands, she amassed a fortune in her own name. Adams’s life story encapsulates the history of the founding era, for she defined herself in relation to the people she loved or hated (she was never neutral), a cast of characters that included her mother and sisters; Benjamin Franklin and James Lovell, her husband’s bawdy congressional colleagues; Phoebe Abdee, her father’s former slave; her financially naïve husband; and her son John Quincy. At once epic and intimate, Abigail Adams, sheds light on a complicated, fascinating woman, one of the most beloved figures of American history. |
Contents
| 13 | |
| 21 | |
Mrs Adams 17641770 | 33 |
Mrs Delegate 1774 | 56 |
Honour Honour Is at Stake 17851786 | 218 |
Wisdom Says Soloman Maketh the Face to Shine 1787 | 240 |
Much More Productive 17891792 | 266 |
With All the Ardour of Youth 17921795 | 284 |
They Wisht the Old Woman Had Been There 17981800 | 320 |
Your Mothers Legacy 18051809 | 344 |
The Threefold Silken Cord is Broken 18111812 | 366 |
Dr Tufts Has Always Been My Trustee 18151818 | 405 |
13 | 417 |
96 | 424 |
130 | 438 |
| 462 | |
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Common terms and phrases
AA to CT AA to ESSP AA to JA AA to JQA AA to MOW AA to MSC Abdee Abigail Adams Abigail and John Abigail reported Abigail told Abigail wrote Adams’s American April April 20 bonds Boston boys Braintree British brother Charles Colonel Smith Congress Cotton Tufts daughter earlier early Elizabeth England ESSP to AA family’s father federal female French gail husband JA to AA Jefferson John Adams John Quincy Adams John’s JQA to AA July July 16 June knew lady later letter London Louisa Catherine March married Mary Cranch Mary’s Massachusetts Mercy Otis Warren months mother MOW to AA MSC to AA Nabby Nabby’s never Peabody Peacefield Philadelphia Phoebe political purchase Quincy’s received Royall Tyler Sept servants Shaw son’s Thomas tion told John Warren Washington wife wife’s William William Stephens Smith women York