SOURCE: “Editorial: Correspondence of John and Abigail Adams—Considerations for the Bicentennial” in Women's Studies, Vol. 3, No. 1, 1975, pp. 1-3.

In the following essay, Martin asserts that Adams believed women were irrational and that their participation in politics posed a threat to the social order.

Abigail Adams is often remembered for her admonition to her husband to “remember the ladies” when framing the constitution. On March 31, 1776, she informs him that “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.” The reply of John Adams on April 14, 1776, makes it quite clear that he has no intention of redistributing power:

As to your extraordinary code of laws, I cannot but laugh. We have been told that our struggle has loosened the bonds of government everywhere...