Abigail Smith Adams (November 22, 1744-October 28, 1818) was the wife of John Adams, the 2nd President of the United States, and the mother of John Quincy Adams, the 6th President. The daughter of Reverend William Smith, she married John Adams when she was 20 years old, and together they had five children. She strongly supported her husband's career. Her letters and memoirs are now considered major historical documents revealing life during the Revolutionary era.
On October 16, 1774, as tensions with Great Britain increased, Abigail wrote to her husband, John Adams, from their home in Braintree:
<I dare not express to you, at three hundred miles distance, how ardently I long for your return....And whether the end will be tragical, Heaven only knows. You cannot be, I know, nor do I wish to see you, an inactive spectator; but if the sword be drawn, I bid adieu to all domestic felicity, and look forward to that country where there are neither wars nor rumors of war, in a firm belief that through the mercy of its King we shall both rejoice there together... Your most affectionate, Abigail Adams.> 1744AA001
On June 18, 1775, Abigail wrote to her husband, John Adams:
<The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; but the God of Israel is He that giveth strength and power unto His people. Trust in Him at all times, ye people, pour out your hearts before Him; God is a refuge for us.
Charlestown is laid in ashes. The battle began upon our entrenchments upon Bunker's Hill, Saturday morning about 3 o'clock, and has not ceased yet, and it is now three o'clock Sabbath afternoon. It is expected they will come out over the Neck tonight, and a dreadful battle must ensue. Almighty God, cover the heads of our countrymen, and be a shield to our dear friends... Abigail Adams.> 1744AA002
In a letter dated June 25, 1775, Abigail wrote to her husband, John Adams regarding the battle at Charlestown, Massachusetts:
<We live in continual Expectation of Hostilities. Scarcely a day that does not produce some, but like Good Nehemiah having made our prayer with God, and set the people with their Swords, their Spears and their bows we will say unto them, Be not afraid of them.
Remember the Lord who is great and terrible, and fight for your Brethren, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your houses...
They [British] delight on molesting us on the Sabbath. Two Sabbaths we have been in such Alarms that we have had no meetings. This day we have set under our own vine in quietness, have heard Mr. Taft, from Psalms. The Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works. The good man was earnest and pathetick. I could forgive his weakness for the sake of his sincerity-but I long for a Cooper and an Elliot.
I want a person who has feeling and sensibility who can take one up with his [speaking].
And in his Duty prompt at every call
Can watch, and weep, and pray, and feel for all.> 1744AA003
On Sunday, September 16, 1775, Abigail wrote to her husband, John Adams:
<I set myself down to write with a heart depressed with the melancholy scenes around me. My letter will be only a bill of mortality; though thanks be to the Being who restraineth the pestilence, that it has not yet proved mortal to any of our family, though we live in daily expectation that Patty will not continue many hours....
And unto Him who mounts the whirlwind and directs the storm, I will cheerfully leave the ordering of my lot and whether adverse or prosperous days should be my future portion, I will trust in His right Hand to lead me safely through, and after a short rotation of events, fix me in a state immutable and happy....
Adieu! I need not say how sincerely I am your affectionate, Abigail Adams.> 1744AA004
Near November 5, 1775, Abigail wrote to her friend, Mercy Warren:
<A patriot without religion in my estimation is as great a paradox as an honest Man without the fear of God. Is it possible that he whom no moral obligations bind, can have any real Good Will towards Men?
Can he be a patriot who, by an openly vicious conduct, is undermining the very bonds of Society, corrupting the Morals of Youth, and by his bad example injuring the very Country he professes to patronize more than he can possibly compensate by intrepidity, Generosity and honour? The Scriptures tell us "righteousness exalteth a Nation."> 1744AA005
Abigail Adams stated:
<[A] true patriot must be a religious man. [H]e who neglects his duty to his Maker, may well be expected to be deficient and insincere in his duty towards the public.> 1744AA006
On June 20, 1776, Abigail wrote to her husband, John Adams, in Philadelphia:
<I feel no anxiety at the large armament designed against us. The remarkable interpositions of heaven in our favor cannot be too gratefully acknowledged. He who fed the Israelites in the wilderness, who clothes the lilies of the field and who feeds the young ravens when they cry, will not forsake a people engaged in so right a cause, if we remember His loving kindness.> 1744AA007
On July 14, 1776, Abigail wrote to her husband, John Adams:
<May the foundation of our new constitution, be Justice, Truth and Righteousness. Like the wise Man's house may it be founded upon those Rocks and then neither storms or tempests will overthrow it.> 1744AA008
On July 21, 1776, Abigail wrote to her husband, John Adams, of the reaction in Boston to the public reading of the Declaration of Independence:
<Last Thursday after hearing a very good Sermon I went with the Multitude into Kings Street to hear the proclamation for independence read and proclaimed....When Col. Crafts read from the Balcony of the State House the
Proclamation, great attention was given to every word. As soon as he ended, the cry from the Balcony, was God Save Our American States.... After dinner the kings arms were taken down from the State House and every vestige of him from every place in which it appeared and burnt in King Street. Thus ends royall Authority in this State, and all the people shall say Amen.> 1744AA009
On July 21, 1776, Abigail Adams stated:
<Our worthy preacher told us that he believed one of our Great Sins for which a righteous God has come out in judgment against us, was our Bigoted attachment to so wicked a Man [King George III]. May our repentance be sincere.> 1744AA010
On March 20, 1780, Abigail Adams wrote to her son, John Quincy Adams:
<The only sure and permanent foundation of virtue is religion. Let this important truth be engraven upon your heart....Justice, humanity and benevolence are the duties you owe to society in general. To your Country the same duties are incumbent upon you with the additional obligation of sacrificing ease, pleasure, wealth and life itself for its defense and security.> 1744AA011
On February 8, 1797, Abigail wrote to her husband, John Adams, upon his election as the 2nd President of the United States:
<You have this day to declare yourself head of a nation. "And now, O Lord, my God, Thou hast made thy servant ruler over the people. Give unto him an understanding heart, that he may know how to go out and come in before this great people; that he may discern between good and bad. For who is able to judge this thy so great a people?" were the words of a royal Sovereign; and not less applicable to him who is invested with the Chief Magistracy of a nation, though he wear not a crown, nor robes of royalty....
Though personally absent...my petitions to Heaven are that "the things which make for peace may not be hidden from your eyes."...That you may be enabled to discharge them with honor to yourself, with justice and impartiality to your country, and with satisfaction to this great people, shall be the daily prayer of your Abigail Adams.> 1744AA012
In the year 1800, Abigail Adams wrote concerning upcoming elections:
<Can the placing at the head of the nation two characters known to be Deists be productive to order, peace and justice?> 1744AA013
In a letter to her sister, Abigail Adams expressed concern about the Presidential candidates:
<Never were a people placed in more difficult circumstances than the virtuous part of our countrymen are at the resent crisis. I have turned, and turned and overturned in my mind at various times the merits and demerits of the two candidates. Long acquaintance, private friendship and the full belief that the private character of [Jefferson] is much purer than [Burr]...inclines me to [Jefferson].
[H]ave we any claim to the favor or protection of Providence when we have against warning admonition and advice chosen as our chief Magistrate a man who makes no pretensions to the belief of an all wise supreme Governor of the World, ordering or directing or overruling the events which take place in it?...[I]f we ever saw a day of darkness, I fear this is one.> 1744AA014
Abigail wrote in a letter to her son, John Quincy Adams:
<Great learning and superior abilities, should you ever posses them, will be of little value, unless honor, truth and integrity are added to them.> 1744AA015
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
Endnotes:
1744AA001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Abigail Adams. October 16, 1774, writing to her husband John Adams from their home in Braintree, Massachusetts, just prior to the outbreak of war. Letters of Abigail Adams to Her Husband (Old South Leaflets, No. 6, Fourth Series, 1886), pp. 1- 3.
1744AA002. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Abigail Adams. June 18, 1775, in writing to her husband John Adams, in the midst of the conflict with Britain. Charles Francis Adams (son of John Quincy Adams and grandson of John Adams), Familiar Letters of John Adams with his wife Abigail Adams-during the Revolution (NY: Hurd and Houghton, 1876), Vol. XXVI, pp. 3-4.
1744AA003. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Abigail Adams. June 25, 1775, in a letter to her husband, John Adams from their estate at Braintree, reporting the details of the battle at Charlestown, Massachusetts. L.H. Butterfield, Marc Frielander, and Mary-Jo King, eds., The Book of Abigail and John-Selected Letters of The Adams Family 1762-1784 (Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England: Harvard University Press, 1975), pp. 90, 93.
1744AA004. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Abigail Adams. September 16, 1775, Sunday, in writing to her husband, John Adams. Letters of Abigail Adams to her Husband (Old South Leaflets, No. 6, Fourth Series, 1886), pp. 4-6.
1744AA005. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Abigail Adams. November 5, 1775(circa), in a letter to her friend, Mercy Warren. Warren- Adams Letters, 1743-1777 (Massachusetts Historical Society Collections), Vol. I, p. 72. L.H. Butterfield, ed., Adams Family Correspondence (Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1963), Vol. I, p. 323. Edmund Fuller and David E. Green, God in the White House-The Faiths of American Presidents (NY: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1968), p. 22. Jan Payne Pierce, The Patriot Primer III (Fletcher, NC: New Puritan Library, Inc., 1987), p. 44. Peter Marshall and David Manuel, The Glory of America (Bloomington, MN: Garborg's Heart'N Home, Inc., 1991), 3.11. D.P. Diffine, Ph.D., One Nation Under God-How Close a Separation? (Searcy, Arkansas: Harding University, Belden Center for Private Enterprise Education, 6th edition, 1992), p. 7. Stephen McDowell and Mark Beliles, "The Providential Perspective" (Charlottesville, VA: The Providence Foundation, P.O. Box 6759, Charlottesville, Va. 22906, January 1994), Vol. 9, No. 1, p. 7.
1744AA006. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Abigail Adams. Letters of Mrs. Adams, The Wife of John Adams, Vol. I, p. 76.
1744AA007. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Abigail Adams. June 20, 1776, in a letter to her husband, John Adams, in Philadelphia. L.H. Butterfield, ed., Adams Family Correspondence (Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1963), Vol. II, p. 16. Peter Marshall and David Manuel, The Light and the Glory (Old Tappan, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1977), p. 303. Peter Marshall and David Manuel, The Glory of America (Bloomington, MN: Garborg's Heart'N Home, Inc., 1991), 6.20.
1744AA008. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Abigail Adams. July 14, 1776, in a letter to her husband, John Adams. L.H. Butterfield, Marc Frielander, and Mary-Jo King, eds., The Book of Abigail and John-Selected Letters of The Adams Family 1762-1784 (Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England: Harvard University Press, 1975), p. 145.
1744AA009. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Abigail Adams. July 21, 1776, in a letter to her husband John Adams, relating the response in Boston to the reading of the Declaration of Independence. L.H. Butterfield, Marc Frielander, and Mary-Jo King, eds., The Book of Abigail and John- Selected Letters of The Adams Family 1762-1784 (Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England: Harvard University Press, 1975), p. 148.
1744AA010. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Abigail Adams. July 21, 1776, in summary of the sermon heard the day the Declaration was read to the people of Boston. L.H. Butterfield, Marc Frielander, and Mary-Jo King, eds., The Book of Abigail and John-Selected Letters of The Adams Family 1762-1784 (Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England: Harvard University Press, 1975), p. 149.
1744AA011. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Abigail Adams. March 20, 1780, in writing to her son, John Quincy Adams. David Barton, The WallBuilder Report (Aledo, TX: WallBuilder Press, Summer 1993), p. 2.
1744AA012. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Abigail Adams. February 8, 1797, in writing to her husband, John Adams, at the occasion of his election as the 2nd President of the United States. Charles Francis Adams (son of John Quincy Adams and grandson of John Adams), Familiar Letters of John Adams with his wife Abigail Adams-during the Revolution (NY: Hurd and Houghton, 1876), p. XXVI.
1744AA013. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Abigail Adams. 1800, in writing concerning the upcoming elections. David Barton, The Myth of Separation (Aledo, TX: Wallbuilder Press, 1992), p. 36.
1744AA014. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Abigail Adams. In a letter to her sister concerning the Presidential candidates. Stewart Mitchell, ed., New Letters of Abigail Adams 1788-1801 (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1947), pp. 265-66.
1744AA015. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Abigail Adams. In a letter to her son, John Quincy Adams. Rosalie J. Slater, "The Education of James Madison," in Verna M. Hall, The Christian History of the American Revolution-Consider and Ponder (San Francisco: Foundation for American Christian Education, 1976), p. 607. Stephen McDowell and Mark Beliles, "The