Abigail Adams

Table of Contents

Quotes References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

Who were the Founding Fathers of the United States?

For Students

Abigail Adams summary

Abigail Adams

Q: What did Abigail Adams do to change the world?

Abigail Adams’s grandson Charles Francis Adams concluded that she had played a significant role in the career of her husband, John Adams , particularly in managing the family farm and his business affairs. She was also known as an advocate of women’s rights, particularly the right to an education , and she favoured the abolition of slavery .

Q: What were Abigail Adams’s contributions?

One of Abigail Adams’s contributions was her oversight of the family’s move to the newly constructed presidential mansion in Washington, D.C. On New Year’s Day , 1801, she opened the mansion, later known as the White House , to visitors, continuing a tradition begun by the Washingtons and maintained by every subsequent first lady until 1933.

Q: What was Abigail Adams’s legacy?

Until modern times, few first ladies shared Abigail Adams’s interest in politics or the treatment of government leaders by the press. Although her approach to the office of first lady was in many ways advanced, her fame rests on her thousands of letters, which form an eloquent and evocative description of her life and times.

American first lady

Also known as: Abigail Smith

Written by Betty Boyd Caroli

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Nov 18, 2024 • Article History

Quick Facts

Née:: Abigail Smith

Born:: November 22 [November 11, Old Style], 1744, Weymouth, Massachusetts [U.S.]

Died:: October 28, 1818, Quincy, Massachusetts, U.S. (aged 73)

Title / Office:: first lady (1797-1801)

House / Dynasty:: Adams family

What did Abigail Adams do to change the world?

What were Abigail Adams’s contributions?

What was Abigail Adams’s legacy?

Abigail Adams (born November 22 [November 11, Old Style], 1744, Weymouth, Massachusetts [U.S.]—died October 28, 1818, Quincy, Massachusetts, U.S.) was an American first lady (1797–1801), the wife of John Adams, second president of the United States, and mother of John Quincy Adams, sixth president of the United States. She was a prolific letter writer whose correspondence gives an intimate and vivid portrayal of life in the young republic. Born to William Smith, a Congregational minister, and Elizabeth Quincy Smith, Abigail was the second of four children. Educated entirely at home, she read widely in her father’s large library, and the ...(100 of 1058 words)

Access the full article

Help support true facts by becoming a member.