How Did Abigail Adams Fight For Women's Rights

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Abigail Adams was not only the first lady of the United States when her husband John Adams was the president of the United States, but also an influential woman for her time period. Abigail was born on November 1744—a year when women still lacked many rights and opportunities. Abigail Adams is now seen as one of the earliest advocates for women’s rights. She might not have started a movement, but she planted the seed in history in which women would later keep fighting for their equality in the U.S. Abigail Smith was born on November 22, 1744 in Weymouth, Massachusetts into a conservative Puritan family. Back in the 1700’s, women risked being seen as too “manly” if they were too educated. Abigail had two sisters and one brother. Her brother …show more content…
During the first four years while Adam was away, Abigail had to run the farm and keep her family standing in good conditions. Abigail was a very intelligent woman who learned to use many things at her advantage. In 1778, she asked John to send her expensive things back from France. Upon receiving the items, Abigail would sell them and make an ever better profit out of them. While being in charge, she managed to do things a lot better than John. Abigail wasn’t afraid to take risks. In many letters sent to her husband, she’d tell him about her plans and even if he’d tell her not to do something, she still would. Not to mention, Abigail became an import merchant and used that as an extra source for income. Instead of using her profits to spend them, she’d reinvest them to make even more money for her husband. Under the English law, married women had no rights; therefore, only the men had the ability to own and control the property. This led to Abigail defying her husband in such a sneaky way. As mentioned earlier, she would make investments and have different sources of income. Out of these profits, Abigail would keep her own “savings.” She’d use this money to help her kids, her sisters, and a former slave of her father. Everything Abigail did, she would do under John’s name because only he could own property. When Abigail thought her
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