Abigail Adams (1744-1818) was the wife of our second president, John Adams, and the mother of our sixth, John Quincy Adams. She was a great influence on both of them, but was unable to secure the right to vote for women. Her commitment to women’s rights is illustrated by the following excerpt from one of her many letters to John when he was deeply involved in the Continental Congress:
“- I am anxious to hear that you have declared your independence (from Great Britain) – and by the way, I wish that in the new code (the Declaration of Independence and the new Articles of Confederation) which you are likely to have to pass, you will not forget the ladies, and be more generous and benevolent towards them than your ancestors were. Do not place such unlimited power in the hands of husbands. Remember that all men would be tyrants if they could. Unless special care and attention is given to the ladies, we are determined to raise a rebellion, and will not feel bound by laws in which we have no say or representation.” (April 1776)
Abigail Adams’ letter to John Adams, her husband
Only 144 years later, most American women 21 years of age or older were granted the right to vote when the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920. In the meantime, however, many people who had forgotten the aphorism “Hell hath no fury like that of women scorned” (from an English play by William Congreve, 1670-1729, 1697) had to pay the price in hell. Perhaps John Adams and his fellow founders – they were all men at the Continental Assembly – should have listened. Perhaps they would have saved the United States 144 years of anguish and themselves many nights on the couch.
It is not that women, and many men, have not fought mightily for women’s equality for many years. Courageous heroines such as Dolly Madison (1768-1849), Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902), and Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) marched, lectured, wrote, and endured social, political, and even physical dangers for the cause of women’s suffrage. And in my own family, my grandmother, who was not allowed to vote until she was well into her 21s, impressed upon my mother, who remembered the days when women could not vote, what she and other women owed to these pioneers. The best way to repay was to exercise their dearly-bought right to vote. My 87-year-old sister Janie was filled with this burning passion, as was my wife Peg, who is not 87 but whose late mother ignited the same flame in her.
My sister is a testament to how important the right to vote is to many women, and many men too. Janie has been diagnosed with a slowly progressing but debilitating disease that many would once have called uncle. But I am confident that nothing will prevent her from participating in an election that could produce our first female president. Hillary Clinton won a majority of the votes, which I bet included Janie’s. But she and her female colleagues now have a second chance. I have no doubt that my beloved and dedicated sister will make it to November 5th, and hopefully well beyond. The medical profession is of the opinion that they have no opinion. “It will be what it will be,” they say.
I think it may be that Peg’s mother, my mother, and even our grandmothers and great-grandmothers, all of whom have received their due, will find a way to join Janie and Peg at the polls on November 5, 2024, just 248 years after Abigail’s plea to John. Of course, many will exercise their right to support their contemporary female hopefuls, but many women will vote for the men on the ballot. And many men will freely vote for the fairer sex, but also support the men on the ballot.
In other words, gender will no longer be – and never should have been – a determining factor in choosing a candidate or having the right to make such a choice. We all applaud the fact that we no longer base our important political decisions on gender, whatever that term is. Abigail should shine wherever she is.
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