If asked about the impact of the American Revolution on family life, those who experienced the conflict would most likely have pointed to practical difficulties: the absence of men in military service, the economic disruptions of war, and, for some, the loss of homes and livelihood. Over the long term, however, pressures that the Revolution placed on the form and function of the traditional household have proven far more significant than its immediate effects on community life. One of the great paradoxes of the Revolution was that it created a new political order without replacing old patterns of household government.

The wartime correspondence between Abigail and John Adams illustrates the various tensions the Revolution placed on family and household. The letters frequently refer to the difficulties of maintaining a household in wartime and to the emotional strains of separation, concerns that were important but...