Abigail Adams summary

Learn about the life and accomplishments of U.S. first lady Abigail Adams

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Abigail Adams, orig. Abigail Smith, (born Nov. 22, 1744, Weymouth, Mass.—died Oct. 28, 1818, Quincy, Mass., U.S.), U.S. first lady. Educated entirely at home, she became an avid reader of history. She married John Adams in 1764 and raised four children, including John Quincy Adams, in Quincy, Mass. She was a prolific letter writer whose correspondence with her husband provides a vivid portrayal of life during and after the American Revolution. These letters show that Abigail played a significant role in her husband’s career. She was vocal in her support for a woman’s right to education and the abolition of slavery. As first lady, she involved herself in the debates of her day, subjecting herself to criticism from those who did not think the president’s wife should share political opinions. She and her husband were the first to live in the White House.

John Adams Summary

John Adams was an early advocate of American independence from Great Britain, a major figure in the Continental Congress (1774–77), the author of the Massachusetts constitution (1780), a signer of the Treaty of Paris (1783), the first American ambassador to the Court of St. James (1785–88), and the

John Quincy Adams Summary

John Quincy Adams was the sixth president of the United States (1825–29) and eldest son of President John Adams. In his prepresidential years he was one of America’s greatest diplomats (formulating, among other things, what came to be called the Monroe Doctrine), and in his postpresidential years

first ladies at the George W. Bush Presidential Center

first lady Summary

First lady, wife of the president of the United States. Although the first lady’s role has never been codified or officially defined, she figures prominently in the political and social life of the nation. Representative of her husband on official and ceremonial occasions both at home and abroad,

United States Summary

United States, country in North America, a federal republic of 50 states. Besides the 48 conterminous states that occupy the middle latitudes of the continent, the United States includes the state of Alaska, at the northwestern extreme of North America, and the island state of Hawaii, in the