Abigail’s letters from this period reveal not just the physical ordeal (for example, some children required multiple inoculations, and young Charles suffered for weeks), but also Abigail’s remarkable independence of mind, her trust in reason and science, and her clear-eyed understanding that in wartime, safety was simply not on offer.
John Adams, Thoughts on Government: Applicable to the Present State of the American Colonies: in a Letter from a Gentleman to His Friend (Philadelphia: John Dunlap, 1776), 193–199. https://teachingamericanhistory.org/3q75 .
Annals of Congress, House of Representatives, 5th Congress, 1st session, 55–59, available at https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llac&fileName=007/llac007.db&recNum=23. … [French conduct] evinces a disposition to separate the people of the United States from the
Abigail Adams to John Adams | Braintree, Mass., March 31, 1776 I wish you would ever write me a letter half as long as I write you, and tell me,
Source: John Adams, Thoughts on Government…. (Philadelphia: John Dunlap, 1776), in Charles Francis Adams, ed., The Works of John Adams, 10 vols. (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1850–56), 4:193–200. http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/adams-the-works-of-john-adams-10-vols
Source: “From John Adams to Mercy Otis Warren, 8 January 1776,” Founders Online, National Archives, accessed April 11, 2019, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/06-03-02-0202; “To John Adams from Mercy Otis Warren, 10 March 1776,” Founders Online, National Archives,
Adams ridicules Hartford Convention as unrealistic, dangerous, and politically foolish.
Independence sparks a deeper question: if all are equal, why shouldn’t women—and others—claim political rights too?
The Form of Government, which you admire when its Principles are pure is admirable indeed, it is productive of every Thing, which is great and excellent among Men. But its
Pray Madam, are you for an American Monarchy or Republic? Monarchy is the genteelest and most fashionable Government, and I dont know why the Ladies ought not to consult Elegance
