Abigail Adams

Abigail Smith Adams (November 22, 1744 – October 28, 1818) was the wife of John Adams, the second President of the United States. She was also the mother of John Quincy Adams, the sixth president. Later on, people started to address the wife of the president as the First Lady. So, she became the second First Lady of the United States. 

Adams was born in Weymouth, Massachusetts. She belonged to a famous Massachusetts family (the Quincy Family).

In 1801, John and Abigail retired to Quincy, Massachusetts. Abigail died from typhoid fever in 1818, at the age of 73.

 Early life 
Abigail Adams advocated for an equal education in public schools for boys and girls. In her earliest years, she was often in poor health. She spent most of her time reading and, she corresponded with family and friends before getting married. 

Adams did not get any formal education in any school or college. Her father had a big library, so she studied many books and educated herself that way. 

She married John Adams in 1764. In the next ten years, she had five children (a sixth was stillborn). One of her children was John Quincy Adams, the sixth President of the United States.

 Political involvement 
Adams was a vital confidant and adviser to her husband John Adams. She opposed slavery and supported women's rights. In 1776, her husband participated in the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia. There, Adams wrote her most famous letter to the Founding Fathers, asking them to "remember the ladies." 

In 1784, Adams joined at her husband at his diplomatic post in Paris. She became interested in the manners of the French. After 1785, she filled the difficult role of wife of the First United States Minister to Great Britain. thumb|Abigail Adams (1744-1818). From: Evert A. Duyckinick: Portrait Gallery of Eminent Men and Women in Europe and America. New York, 1873.|alt=

 References 

 Other websites 

Category:1744 births
Category:1818 deaths
Category:18th-century American people
Category:19th-century American people
Category:First Ladies of the United States
Category:Second ladies and second gentlemen of the United States
Category:John Adams
Category:People from Massachusetts
Category:Deaths from typhoid fever