Historian Reinterprets Abigail Adams' 1776 'Remember the Ladies' Letter

A Smithsonian magazine podcast episode featuring historian Cassandra Good examines Abigail Adams' famous 1776 correspondence with her husband John Adams. Good, a scholar at Marymount University specializing in early American women's history, argues that the letter's popular interpretation as advocating for women's suffrage is inaccurate. Instead, she contends Adams was specifically addressing legal protections for wives against spousal abuse within marriage, reflecting concerns about coverture laws that stripped married women of legal identity. The letter was written in March 1776 while John Adams participated in Continental Congress debates about independence, with Abigail managing their Massachusetts household. Good explains that while Abigail Adams was politically engaged and intellectually formidable, her request focused on marital rights rather than political participation. The correspondence remained private until published by Adams' grandson in 1875 and later appeared in suffrage movement documents, where early activists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton understood its domestic context. The discussion occurs amid renewed interest in women's roles during the American Revolution's 250th anniversary commemorations.