Abigail Adams: No Voice or Representation
Saturday March 31, 2007
Abigail Adams was married to John Adams, the second U.S. President. During John's many absences from home working with the Continental Congress and as a diplomat in Europe, Abigail managed the farm and family finances. No wonder she expected that the new nation would "remember the ladies"!
On March 31, 1776, Abigail wrote to her husband, "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." It would be nearly 145 years before women were allowed a formal voice and representation through the vote.
Comments
The admiration of Abigail Adams in her appeal to remember the ladies is one of the saddist commentaries on American Government that perhaps only women can appreciate. By her recognition that she had little choice but to seek sanctuary through her husband’s voice is recognition of the terrible plight of women since the inception of the nation.
If women have no voice, how can they possibly be self governing with any degree of anticipated success?
Since women, by and large, are those who represent their children, the facts plainly point to the fact that neither women nor children have representation without recognizing that women must be a part of any national and state governance. For without it, government exists only as a gift to be freely given, or freey withheld by husbands acting as controllers, and custody holders.