The following witty exchange between John and Abigail Adams is a fitting addendum to my previous post. I know I’ve mentioned her before, but Abigail typifies the potential effect of this “realm of domesticity.” Through her husband John and her son, John Quincy, she shaped the lives of two American presidents, all from her Braintree farmhouse. It is the opinion of John Adams’s biographer David McCullough, that “Abigail Adams was one of the most remarkable, admirable, wise Americans of all time.”
In one of her many letters to her husband, Abigail makes a request:
Abigail: And by the way, in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors have been. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could.
John: We know better than to repeal our masculine systems. Although they are in full force, you know they are little more than theory. We are obliged to go softly. And in practice you know we are the subjects. We only have the names of masters.
Though certainly written tongue-in-cheek, John Adams’s reply is an extraordinary acknowledgement of female influence! How can you humbly exert your influence for the good of your family and the glory of Christ today?
Recent Comments