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Abigail Adams: An American Woman Book Summary and Study Guide

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This remarkable biography of Abigail Adams, wife of the second president of the United States, John Adams, and mother of the sixth, John Quincy Adams, tells not only of her extraordinary life but of the major political and social developments of the time In Abigail Adams: An American Woman [ISBN 0-316-02041-9] Charles W. Akers presents a brilliantly written, well-researched account of the life of the extraordinary woman who was the wife of the second president of the United StaItes and the mother of the sixth.
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Abigail Smith Adams [1744-1818] was the second of four children born to Elizabeth Quincy Smith and William Smith. Her mother's prominent family had been public officials, merchants and landowners. Her father, also from a prosperous family, was an ordained minister of the North Parish Congregational Church of Weymouth, Massachusetts. The family lived in a comfortable house, with fine furnishings and enough room for the children, servants, and visiting relatives. Despite this, her father supervised, and often worked on, the parsonage farm and another he had acquired north of Boston. He planted potatoes, barley and corn, gathered hay, and saw to the care of the many sheep. Abigail and her sisters “…learned to be both household managers and workers.”

Because of poor health Abigail did not go to school. Although she had no formal tutor, her mother taught her to read and write; members of her family had extensive libraries so she was very well read.   When Abigail was eleven years old, Richard Cranch came to the parsonage to tutor the children. His passion for scholarship, his technical skills [including watchmaking], and his knowledge of the classical languages and biblical and secular topics, made him a remarkable teacher. All the Smith children received fine educations. In fact, their educations were so fine that the Smith girls were concerned that they might not marry; they intimidated many of the young men who were husband material. The eldest, Mary, solved this problem by marrying Richard Cranch. The youngest Betsy, did not marry for many years. That leaves Abigail.

John Adams had known Abigail's father since 1759; by the end of 1761 he began to court her. Her family, the Smiths and the Quincys, “…considered John an unworthy suitor because his family was at best of middling quality and the law was a disreputable profession.” However, he overcame their objections; Abigail and John were married on October 25, 1764. Altogether, they had five children, the first, Abigail [called Nabby] being born in 1765 and the second, John Quincy, [named for Abigail's beloved grandfather who died two days after the child's birth], in 1767.

John Adams was frequently absent from their home in Braintree. As a lawyer with a flourishing practice [he had as many cases as he could handle] he attended court sessions in several cities of Massachusetts, including Boston. Later, as a member of the Continental Congresses he was also away for extended periods of time. During these long absences Abigail had sole responsibility for the family, household finances and the farm. She was an astute manager.

We are indebted to these prolonged absences for the many letters exchanged between Abigail and John. We learn of her feelings about women [“…that sex roles should be fully reciprocal, that men be as accountable for their obligations as women for theirs…”; women should have extensive educations, opportunities, and property rights, without being offensive or pushy], politics, and religion.

She felt that women should be highly educated, ethical and moral creatures so that they could be helpful to their husbands and, most important, properly shape the minds and characters of their children. “I am sensible I have an important trust committed to me…and tho I feel my-self very uneaquel to it tis still incumbent upon me to discharge it in the best manner I am capable of.” Her upbringing of John Quincy Adams is generally credited with his development into the extraordinary man he became. “Denied a public voice, she helped shape the political views of her husband and sons.”

After the Revolutionary War, John was, again, frequently away because of his court cases. However, a major blow came to Abigail when Congress appointed him as one of the three commissioners representing the United States in France. Their eldest son, John Quincy, joined his father while Abigail stayed at home with Nabby and the two younger boys. She would not see her husband and son for four and one-half years.

At the end of the commission John returned to Braintree, MA in August 1779. “After a short rest, Adams plunged into the work of the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention”, helping to frame the document that became the model for the federal constitution of 1787. His time at home was short-lived. In October, 1779, Congress chose Adams as the sole minister to negotiate peace with Great Britain. This time he took two sons with him, John Quincy and the nine-year-old Charles. While negotiating the peace treaty they lived in Paris, and made several trips throughout Europe.

John wanted Abigail to join them, but she was afraid of the long sea voyage. Finally, in 1784 she left, first for Paris, where the family lived for nine months and, then, for England, where John was the first US Minister to the Court of Saint James. They did not return to Quincy until 1788.

During these European stints Abigail became more sophisticated regarding politics, fashion and food – good preparation for her later roles as wife of the first vice president of the US [1789-1797] and its second president 1797-1801]. When first elected president John Adams lived in Philadelphia, which was then the capital. In 1800, he and his family moved to Washington, DC. Abigail was the first woman to live in the “President's House” as the White House was then called.

Abigail's attributes made her an extraordinary First Lady. She is said to have been one of the most politically astute and erudite women to have that role. Her influence on her husband's thinking cannot be overrated.

Abigail died in 1818 from typhoid fever. She did not live to see the son she had formed so carefully become the sixth president of the United States.
Best part of story, including ending: I liked the book because it was extraordinarily well researched, highly readable, and showed how the political, religious, and social events of the day helped to form Abigail's personality.

Best scene in story: In my favorite scene, on July 10th, 1777, Abigail goes into labor “…at about the same time that a letter from John was handed to her. She answered the letter between contractions, writing not only of her condition but of the high prices of food, the problems of the farm, and the course of the war.”

Opinion about the main character: I liked Abigail Adams, as presented, because of her extraordinary courage, her hard work, and because she pushed the limits of what women could accomplish while at no time causing offense.

The review of this Book prepared by Maria Perper a Level 4 Yellow-Headed Blackbird scholar

Chapter Analysis of Abigail Adams: An American Woman

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Plot & Themes

job/profession:    -   politician Job/profession/poverty story    -   Yes Period of greatest activity?    -   1600-1899

Subject of Biography

Gender    -   Female Profession/status:    -   homemaker Ethnicity    -   White Nationality    -   American

Setting

How much descriptions of surroundings?    -   2 () United States    -   Yes The US:    -   Northeast Europe    -   Yes European country:    -   England/UK Century:    -   18th century

Writing Style

Book makes you feel?    -   very happy Pictures/Illustrations?    -   A few 1-5 B&W How much dialogue in bio?    -   roughly even amounts of descript and dialog How much of bio focuses on most famous period of life?    -   0-25% of book

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