Abigail Adams: The Causes That Defined President John Adams' First Lady

Married to the second president of the United States, Abigail Adams was a highly educated and opinionated woman whose political views and partnership with her husband helped form the early years of the country.

John Adams and Abigail Adams had a long marriage that extended through the Revolutionary War and the presidency which made her first lady. Her tireless interest in political issues of the day is well documented through her correspondence with her husband.

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Abigail Adams was an advocate for equal rights for women, and she believed in equal access for the education of girls. According to the National First Ladies Library, Adams held an appointed position in the lead-up to the Revolutionary War she worked in a position appointed by the Massachusetts Colony General Court to work with Tory women. In her letters, she argued for women’s rights as her husband and fellow founding fathers discussed the outlines of the new country’s government at the Second Continental Congress.

Abigail Adams was one of the first fighters for women’s rights in this country, the Women’s Right National Historical Park in New York said. She believed in equal marriage rights and the importance of education. In a famous March 1776 letter to her husband, Adams wrote, "Remember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care an 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."

Abigail Adams was not fond of the position of First Lady. She knew all too well the high cost of becoming a public figure. This direct woman often said controversial things in public. She was highly loyal to the Federalist Party and often wrote public editorial letters. In these letters she continued to write about the public education of girls and her belief in the importance of an end of slavery.

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The White House website noted her long separations from John Adams as he served the new country in a variety of positions enabled the now-famous letter writing that outlined her political positions and influence. She became the wife of the first United States Minister to Great Britain following the American Revolution. It was not a pleasant role, but one she served in with tact.

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