Abigail Adams – “Remember the Ladies” (1776)

Primary Source Comprehension • Approx. Lexile 950 • Tabs: Main Idea & Details, Inference, Vocabulary
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Primary Source Text Braintree, March 31, 1776 • Letter to John Adams

“Remember the Ladies” – Abigail Adams to John Adams

Braintree, March 31, 1776

I long to hear that you have declared an independency. 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 favourable to them than your ancestors.

Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.

That your sex are naturally tyrannical is a truth so thoroughly established as to admit of no dispute; but such of you as wish to be happy willingly give up the harsh title of Master for the more tender and endearing one of Friend.

Why, then, not put it out of the power of the vicious and the lawless to use us with cruelty and indignity? Men of sense in all ages abhor those customs which treat us only as the vassals of your sex.

Regard us then as beings placed by Providence under your protection, and in imitation of the Supreme Being make use of that power only for our happiness.

Comprehension Tabs
Questions in each tab refer to the letter above.
1. What is the main purpose of Abigail Adams’s letter to John?
Main idea of the letter.
2. What does Abigail warn will happen if “particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies”?
Detail from her warning about rebellion.
3. According to Abigail, how do “men of sense in all ages” feel about customs that treat women as vassals?
Detail about reasonable men’s views on unfair treatment of women.
4. What change in relationships between men and women does Abigail suggest makes men happier?
Detail about how men can choose to relate to women.
5. What can be inferred about Abigail Adams’s view of most men’s use of power?
Inference from her comments about tyrants and husbands.
6. When Abigail writes that women “will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation,” what idea is she echoing?
Inference connecting women’s rights to Revolutionary ideas.
7. How would you best describe Abigail Adams’s tone in this letter?
Inference about her attitude as she writes to John.
8. What can be inferred from Abigail’s request that men “make use of that power only for our happiness”?
Inference about expectations for how power should be used.
9. In the sentence “I long to hear that you have declared an independency,” the word “independency” most nearly means
Vocabulary in context referring to American independence.
10. In “we are determined to foment a rebellion,” the word “foment” most nearly means
Vocabulary in context about starting a rebellion.
11. In the phrase “use us with cruelty and indignity,” the word “indignity” most nearly means
Vocabulary in context describing unfair treatment.
12. In the sentence “those customs which treat us only as the vassals of your sex,” the word “vassals” most nearly means
Vocabulary in context about women’s low legal status.
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