Abigail Adams (1744-1818)

[murielm99]

"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."

Do not forget this women of DU. "Remember the ladies" should be a rallying cry.

[BigmanPigman]

1. She knew, she knew!

We all know.

[murielm99]

3. I used this letter a few times when I was teaching.

It went right over the heads of many of the boys. The girls got it.

[BigmanPigman]

8. That made me laugh since I am not surprised a bit!

[Volaris]

12. Fuck ya she knew.

Somehow she was a hundred and fifty years smarter than the Enlightened-Age Geniuses who wrote the Constitution.

I think her husband probably married her cause he knew she was smarter he was...

[Gothmog]

2. K&R

[murielm99]

4. Thank you, Gothmog.

"Remember the ladies."

[Cha]

5. Thank You, muriel!

[murielm99]

6. Mahalo, Cha!

[yuiyoshida]

23. Mahalo Murielm99 and...

Domo Arigatou gozaimashita! ども ありがとう ございました。 ほんと です。

[nycbos]

7. She was a staunch abolitionist too.

A letter written by her on March 31, 1776, explained that she doubted most of the Virginians had such "passion for Liberty" as they claimed they did, since they "deprive[d] their fellow Creatures" of freedom.[5]


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abigail_Adams#Slavery

[brer cat]

9. Great quote, murielm99!

K&R

[cachukis]

10. She was born in 1744. Died at 74 years. Just for accuracy. Loved the quote.

[StevieM]

16. I thought that date of birth seemed a little off. I had a hard time imagining that

she became First Lady at the age of 22.

[murielm99]

17. Fixed!

Thank you.

[Hortensis]

11. :) Probably haven't seen that in 40 years.

She was quite a person. Here's the letter to her husband she wrote that in. She would have been about 32 in 1776.

https://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/archive/doc?id=L17760331aa

[BlancheSplanchnik]

19. That was a good read, thank you Hortensis!

[Hortensis]

26. I like where she complains that he doesn't write nearly

as much to her. Some things are more the same than otherwise.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

28. I chuckled at that too.

[George II]

13. She said those words 200 years ago, probably not thinking they would be remembered today.

[JudyM]

14. Kicking this for the Greatest Page. Excellent quote.

[mountain grammy]

15. Damn she was good!

[sheshe2]

18. Damn, she hit the high note with that comment.

Thank you Muriel.

[backtoblue]

20. K&R

[mcar]

21. Remember the ladies!

Abigail Adams knew. The time is long overdue for a reckoning.

[JHan]

22. She's one of my fave first ladies , right there in the top 3.

A truly amazing woman with a keen mind, and smarter than her husband

Thank you for this muriel <3

[TallMike]

24. As it is for all true men.

C'mon guys...
show our sisters the love.

[watoos]

25. Let's not forget

it took until 1920 before white men allowed women to vote. I live in the middle of Trumpers in central Pa. and my 85 year old golfing buddy told me that giving women the right to vote was the biggest mistake this country made.
He even added that that day was the one that will go down in infamy. Misogyny and bigotry are alive and well in 2018.

[Liberty Belle]

27. Adams sent her back an arrogant and condescending reply. Here it is in part:

As to your extraordinary Code of Laws, I cannot but laugh. We have been told that our Struggle has loosened the bands of Government every where. That Children and Apprentices were disobedient -- that schools and Colledges were grown turbulent -- that Indians slighted their Guardians and Negroes grew insolent to their Masters.

But your Letter was the first Intimation that another Tribe more numerous and powerfull than all the rest were grown discontented. -- This is rather too coarse a Compliment but you are so saucy, I wont blot it out.

Depend upon it, We know better than to repeal our Masculine systems. Altho they are in full Force, you know they are little more than Theory. We dare not exert our Power in its full Latitude. We are obliged to go fair, and softly, and in Practice you know We are the subjects. We have only the Name of Masters, and rather than give up this, which would compleatly subject Us to the Despotism of the Peticoat, I hope General Washington, and all our brave Heroes would fight. I am sure every good Politician would plot, as long as he would against Despotism, Empire, Monarchy, Aristocracy, Oligarchy, or Ochlocracy. -- A fine Story indeed.

[cachukis]

29. His arrogance

The repartee of their conversation was dependent on his successful parlaying of words.
She had one of the masters to dance with.
While her independent streak kept the family and its matters going, she knew she had an ear that had been turned countless times to see what others had missed.
He was practical, but leant towards altruism. He knew he was only a subject.
His response is really a recognition of her sentiments, but Peticoat Despotism would be a hard sell.
He was in the game that the gamesters couldn't give up with out losing what false sense of dignity they had.
She relied on his bravado because the world would not recognize hers until too many years later.
His response is a high brow acknowledgement of social issues that have yet to be resolved.
At least there a few women in Congress today.

[still_one]

30. BRAVO!!!

[DesertRat]

31. Excellent quote!

She knew that women weren't mentioned once in the constitution.

"Remember the ladies"!