Abigail Adams

Abigail Adams was born on November 11, 1744 in Weymouth, Massachusetts, which was about fifteen miles from south Boston. Her parents were William Smith and Elizabeth Quincy Smith, both of their families had lived in colonies for several generations. She had two sisters and a brother; Mary, Betsy and Billy. They had a very good childhood however; Abigail was very shy but also very determined and stubborn. She was also sick most of her childhood and annoyed by her mother's overprotective nature, her father on the other hand was a lot more relaxed and easy going. The Smiths had many visitors and their relatives lived nearby so they also stopped by often (Gale, 2006). Abigail developed a strict sense of values and strong moral fiber that would serve to be the foundation for later life.

Like most woman in that time Abigail did not get a formal education. Education was considered an obstacle for woman in these days. The Woman also believed that if they were educated then men would pass them by for someone that was not educated. For a woman to concentrate on their education as Abigail did was very brave. She taught herself a lot of what she learned out of curiosity and interest. Abigail took after her father in a lot of ways: she loved to read poetry, drama, theology, and political theory. The older that Abigail got the more she wanted to educate herself, she became known as the best-read woman of her time. Even though Abigail had taught herself to read and write her lack of education still bothered her. She was embarrassed that her penmanship, punctuation, and spelling were still very poor in quality but this did not stop her from educating herself (Noble).

Abigail and John Adams meet at her sister's wedding for the first time when Abigail was fifteen years old but Adams was not interested in her at this time he had his eye on another woman. However, when John and Abigail meet again two years later they formed a friendship, relationship, and companionship. Their courtship lasted for five years. They wrote often, and she signed her letters, "Portia". He welcomed her insights. They were married on October the 25th, 1764 in her father's parlor and her father also married. This started one of history's great partnerships.