{"data":{"description":"Archiving Early America - Abigail Smith Adams","title":"Abigail Smith Adams","post_type":"page","content":"\u003ch2 style=\"color: #ad8431;\"\u003eBorn November 23, 1744 — Died October 28, 1818\r\nFirst Lady\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\u003cp style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eHer father, the Rev. William Smith, was for more than forty years minister of the Congregational Church in Weymouth, Massachusetts. Her mother, Elizabeth Quincy, was the great-great-granddaughter of the eminent Puritan divine, Thomas Shepard of Cambridge.Wife of \u003ca style=\"color: #990000;\" href=\"/earlyamerica/portrait/john-adams/\"\u003eJohn Adams\u003c/a\u003e, second president of the United States, Abigail Adams was among the most remarkable women of the Revolutionary period.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eAbigail was alone at home for ten years while Mr. Adams was away as a delegate to the Continental Congress and later on diplomatic business in Europe. Over time Abigail Adams became extensively acquainted with the best English literature, and wrote in a terse, vigorous and often elegant style.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eTwo volumes of her letters were published by her grandson under the titles \"Letters of Mrs. Adams, the Wife of John Adams\" and \"Familiar Letters of John Adams and His Wife Abigail Adams During the Revolution.\" Her letters provide valuable background material on the life of the times, especially of the era during wartime.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eShe shared the intense interest of her husband in the political disputes that were to culminate in war. Later, when Mr. Adams became President, opposing political contemporaries argued that she exerted undue political influence over her husband.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cimg class=\"imgctr\" style=\"color: #000000;\" src=\"/images/earlyamerica/AdamsAbigail100.jpg\" alt=\"Abigail Smith Adams, First Lady of President John Adams\" width=\"345\" height=\"448\" /\u003e\r\n\r\n\u0026nbsp;","menu":[{"path":"lives-early-america","title":"Famous Lives","submenu":[{"path":"lives-early-america/autobiography-benjamin-franklin","title":"Autobiography of Ben Franklin"},{"path":"lives-early-america/ramsays-life-washington","title":"Ramsay's The Life of Washington"},{"path":"lives-early-america/adventures-col-daniel-boone","title":"The Adventures of Col. Daniel Boone"},{"path":"lives-early-america/true-story-paul-revere","title":"The True Story of Paul Revere"},{"path":"world-early-america/famous-obits","title":"Famous Obits"},{"path":"portrait","title":"Portraits"},{"path":"rare-images/last-men-revolution","title":"The Last Men of the Revolution"}]},{"path":"freedom-documents","title":"Freedom Documents","submenu":[{"path":"freedom-documents/bill-rights","title":"Bill of Rights"},{"path":"freedom-documents/declaration-independence","title":"Declaration of Independence"},{"path":"freedom-documents/u-s-constitution","title":"The U.S. Constitution"}]},{"path":"world-early-america","title":"World of Early America","submenu":[{"path":"bookmarks","title":"Early American Bookmarks"},{"path":"world-early-america/famous-obits","title":"Famous Obits"},{"path":"firsts","title":"Firsts!"},{"path":"rare-images/maps","title":"Maps"},{"path":"rare-images","title":"Rare Images"},{"path":"music1","title":"Music"},{"path":"writings","title":"The Writings of Early America"}]},{"path":"boston-massacre","title":"Boston Massacre"},{"path":"milestone-events","title":"Milestones"},{"path":"early-america-review","title":"The Review"},{"path":"home/teachers-students","title":"Teachers"},{"path":"sitemap","title":"Sitemap"}]},"success":true}