Abigail Adams was born in tiny Weymouth, Massachusetts, on November 22, 1744. Her parents were minister William Smith and Elizabeth Quincy, and she was their second of four children. From childhood, Abigail was a prolific reader and dedicated learner, traits that would heavily impact her future life.
In 1764, after a long 2 year courtship, which had been insisted upon by her parents, 19 year old Abigail married the up and coming lawyer John Adams. In him she found an easy companion in intellectual curiosity. Despite her fathers disapproval of John's limited prospects, he himself would officiate their wedding. John and Abigail would have 6 children together, with the first being born just 9 months after their wedding. However, only 4 of their children would survive to adulthood. Those children were Abigail (Nabby) Adams (1765), John Quincy Adams (1767), Charles Adams (1770) and Thomas Adams (1772). Due to John's roles in the Continental Congress and later as a diplomat internationally, Abigail was often left to essentially raise the children on her own, She would prove to be adept at raising her children and managing the family's household. In 1774, John Adams headed to Philadelphia for the First Continental Congress, and he and Abigail began writing regularly during this period. Although many years of their marriage were spent apart, their letters were long, heartfelt, witty and detailed. Their voluminous and historic correspondence gives historians a rare glimpse into the everyday life this historic couple.
Abigail Adams was politically opinionated and outspoken about her views. She passionately supported independence, and famously argued that it should be applied to women as well as men. An opinion she was not afraid to share with her husband. As her husband and his fellow delegates debated the question of formally declaring independence, she wrote to her husband on March 31, 1776:
"And, by the way, in the New Code of Laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors ... Remember all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular 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."
Despite her husband replying dismissively and somewhat jokingly to her, expressing fear of the "Despotism of the Petticoat", Abigail would later push back, making it clear that she was serious about the implications that liberty from the British had for the status of women in a future independent republic.
Along with women's political rights, Abigail also vigorously supported education for women, writing to John in 1778 that "you need not be told how much female education is neglected, nor how fashionable is has been to ridicule female learning."
In the years immediately after the Revolutionary War, John Adams served as the U.S minister to France and then to England. At first, Abigail remained at home, keeping John informed of events through letters. However, in 1784, she would join him in Europe, where they would remain for 5 years. Despite her time at the courts of the British and French royalty, Abigail was not impressed. She wrote letters home where she complained about the royalty, and said that she much preferred her chickens at home. John and Abigail would return to the United States in 1784, so that John could assume the Vice Presidency under George Washington. Over the next decade, Abigail would divide her time between the U.S. Capital (First New York and then Philadelphia) and Braintree, where she managed the family farm.
In 1796, when Washington announced his intention to retire in 1796, John Adams emerged as the leading candidate on the Federalist side, with Jefferson as his main opponent. John Adams would be elected to the Presidency in 1797, making Abigail First Lady. However, her newly elevated status did not damper her political views. Adams detractors said she had no right to be so political, as she not only was not an elected official, but was also a woman. Despite this, as First Lady, Adams continued to be a strong supporter of women's rights to education and she often spoke and wrote against the practice of enslavement. She also continued Martha Washington's tradition of hosting and socializing. Abigail would spend most of her husbands Presidency at Braintree, but she did move into the new presidential mansion in Washington D.C. in 1800. She would be the first First Lady to live in the White House, though it was still under construction. In 1800, John would lose his bid for a second term as President to Jefferson, and the Adams retired from public life.
In retirement, Abigail would see the political career of her son John Quincy prosper, including a diplomatic post in London and his appointment as Secretary of State under James Madison in 1817. Sadly, unlike John, Abigail would not live to see her son John Quincy follow in his father's footsteps and become President of the United States in 1826. With her son's election to the White House, she became the only women to both be married to a President, and a Mother to a President, a distinction she would hold until Barbara Bush in the early 2000s. Abigail died in Quincy in October 1818, at the age of 73 of Typhoid fever.
Abigail Adams refused during her lifetime to allow her letters to be published, as she felt that they were private. However, her grandson Charles Francis Adams arranged the publication of her first volume of letters, preserving forever her unique experience and perspective on American Life and Democracy.
To learn more about the fascinating life of Abigail Adams, you can visit Adams National Historical Park in Massachusetts. There they have the home that the Adams shared, along with the Stone Library, which is home to over 12,000 volumes, reflecting the literary tastes and interests of four generations of Adams men and women, beginning with John Adams in 1768.
I also highly recommend watching the 2007 HBO documentary titled "John Adams" to learn more not only about Abigail, but about her life as the wife of John Adams. It's very well done, and watches more like a mini series than a documentary.