The couple exchanged regular letters during this period –though Abigail Adams sometimes complained about her husband’s uneven attention to their correspondence. John Adams, a noted lawyer, was then serving as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress and proving to be vital in helping to forge the movement for American independence from Great Britain. By the spring of 1776, when Abigail was in her early thirties and John was in his early forties, the couple had five young children, living in their home in Braintree, Massachusetts. INTRODUCTION John and Abigail Adams (New England Historical Society)Ībigail Smith Adams (1744-1818) and John Adams (1735-1826) were married for 54 years, beginning in 1764. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Reservations requested, persons with mobility issues should call in advance.I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors. Kenney Presidential Library, Old Sturbridge Village, Minute Man National Park, and Boston’s Old State House, among many other historic sites and colleges.Īdmission to this 45 minute program costs $5 per person, $1 for Newport Historical Society members. They appear regularly at the Adams National Historic Site in Quincy, MA, and have also presented programs at the Abigail Adams birthplace, the John F. Following the presentation, the living history interpreters portraying John and Abigail, Patricia Bridgeman and Tom Macy, will answer audience questions.Īdams scholars and living history performers Patricia Bridgeman and Thomas Macy have over 35 years of living history experience between them. Love Letters will focus on the most intimate correspondence between John and Abigail Adams, beginning at the very start of their relationship in 1759 and continuing through the Second Continental Congress until 1778 when John prepares for his first trip abroad. Today, over 230 years later, we can still listen to their conversation, share in their thoughts and desires, and get to know them as real people, not just as words in a history book. These letters are now a priceless treasure of American history. But whenever John and Abigail Adams were apart, they continued a steady conversation through letter writing, and kept every single letter.

But I must forget you first.” Thomas and Martha Jefferson burned all their personal letters. In April of 1776, John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail from Philadelphia, “You bid me burn your letters.

Abigail and John Adams portrayed by Patricia Bridgeman and Thomas Macy.

The letters of abigail adams