The All-American Women Essays - Adams Family, Quincy Family

The All-American Women The All-American Women Abigail Adams an American Woman was written by Charles W. Akers. His biographical book is centered on Abigail Adams the wife of John Adams, the second president of the United States, and the mother of John Quincy Adams, the sixth president. She was the All-American woman, from the time of the colonies to its independence. Abigail Adams was America's first women's rights leader. She was a pioneer in the path to women in education, independence, and women's rights. Adams recognized the limited role women were allowed to play in the world at that time. However, she insisted that a woman's role carried an equal amount of importance and responsibility to a man's. She believed that women deserved the opportunities and rights including education and that that would enable them to live to their fullest capacity. She believed that education was as important for women as for men. Educational courses were not taught to women, but Abigail persisted in self-education. She received little formal education; just enough to manage her duties as a housewife and mother; but was encouraged to pursue what were considered more feminine pastimes, such as sewing, music, letter writing, and hosting. She always complained of being denied the proper education necessary to bring her spelling, punctuation, and grammar up to literary standards of her day. The lack of knowledge in these areas is apparent in her letters. She even created her own words. She agreed with other women that if mothers were in charge of early education for their children, they must be educated to be able to perform this duty. Her commitment to promoting education for women was so strong that she pressed her husband to incorporate the issue into the body of laws that he and other founding fathers were drafting in 1776. Abigail's lack of a strong formal education did not stop her from writing, educating herself or speaking her mind. Her quest for knowledge was brave on her part. As members of Congress drafted laws to guarantee the independence for which the colonies were fighting, Abigail wrote to John begging him to remember that women also needed to be given the right to independence. Her most famous letter about the need for women's rights was written to John on March 31, 1776: I long to hear that you have declared an independence--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 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 and 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 (Akers 48). Adams' ideas were shared with other women and spoke of appealing to Congress to regard these radical issues. Congress never appealed to her bluff but as a result, John seemed to have taken her ideas to heart and to have given the matter considerable thought as he struggled with the issue of voters' rights. He understood that a government built on the principles of freedom and equality and carried out with the consent of the people must by reason include women in that equation. She was among the first women in the new country to begin to question a woman's rights and role in a free society. If all men were created equal why were there restrictions on this principle? Abigail believed women should be included in this principle. It would not be long before other women with the same frustrations followed her lead and began working to bring about real and lasting change. Abigail worked closely with John as he struggled with the many issues and problems that confronted him during his presidency. John seriously pondered her ideas while battling with the issue of voter's rights. He realized that government ruled by the people should include women. After Abigail, many more women of America began to inquire about women's rights and