Was Abigail Adams politically correct to use her influence to defend womens rights - Essay Example

History and Political Science, Essay March, Remember the Ladies Was Abigail Adams politically correct to use her influence to defend women’s rights? Mrs. Adams was fighting for equality of rights in sexes and I believe Abigail was correct in defending women’ rights because at that time women practically had no rights since their constitutional rights were locked in restrictive cultural norms. Perhaps early religious belief perpetuated the idea that women were created for conception. The papers presented by Women’s International Center, cited early Christian Theologists such as St. Jerome and Thomas Aquinas positioned women under the mantle of male chauvinism and considered women as “gate of the devil, and path of wickedness”. Women accepted this fate submissively, and did not complain until a woman of courage thought it was about time that the society moved into a new direction. Abigail felt her husband had the power to convince lawmakers to change the fate of women’s lives. In the early days, once women got married, everything had to be consulted to the husband. Women’s roles were to be housewives and to raise children. Working outside the house, or in a factory was in their farthest dreams. All these changed with the American Revolution. Women found new roles and satisfying jobs in seeking the freedom of the country. Perceptions of women on their roles changed too so that it gradually revolutionized their role’s perspectives. As a woman who had connections, Mrs. Adams probably thought she can employ her influence to change the lives’ direction of women; and above all, she was a woman who felt the predicaments of women in the society. Abigail Adams and her husband Pres. John Adams had written about 1,000 letters to each other between 1762 and 180l. In one of her letters, particularly dated March 31, 1775, she told her husband to urge the Congress to: "...in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to forment rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation."(The Book of Abigail and John, March 1976. Pp. 121-122) By this she meant to remember the women’s rights in the passage of the laws, and the women who worked hard for the independence of America. Her words to that letter were threatening, invoking the power of women to form a rebellion if they were not heard by authorities. She argued that women were not created for sex purpose only. Here, Abigail tried to explain in her letter that women should not be oppressed and should be treated with equality or otherwise break the old system of masculine sovereignty. Abigail was also concerned on discriminations and domestic problems of the people, particularly, her friends, who had to leave Boston. There was a great turmoil and resistance from Boston people over the oppressive taxes by the British government at that time, so the public was restive. The famous Boston Tea Party came about in this particular period to demonstrate protests on taxes. The Boston Tea Party that threw loads of tea to the sea was a showdown of protest that imminently led to a revolution. Due perhaps to this commotion, many people had to leave Boston, and that included friends of Adam’s family. Abigail complained about this on her letter to John Adams on July 12, 1775 relating to him the difficulty of Mr. Hayden and Mr. Trott in finding a suitable home in Braintree ( Adams Electronic Archive, n.d.) .Housing was one of the problems that could be articulated in the letter. Therefore, it is a national problem that could only be addressed by the government. She probably felt her husband had the power to give solution to this tight spot of domestic problems. In Abigail’s first letter she tried to explain women should not be oppressed and should be treated with equality. Women were only asking for equality, and not full authority. Equality means having the rights and responsibilities and obligations as everyone in the society. Abigail’s letters were timely since it came when deliberations were being made on the Amendments of the Constitution. Her letters could be an influence to her husband’s deliberations. Sadly, the response of John to Abigail in his letter dated April 14, 1776, although written with respect, rejected the idea, saying” we know better than to repeal our masculine system”, then, further ended the letter with indignant response implying a repeal of the law would subject men in the “despotism of petticoat”.(The Book of Abigail and Adams, pp.122-123). The term despotism is an allegory, that men should by all means, not come under full authority of women, as this is beyond cultural norms. There are some justifications to that since it was an era where masculinity reigns in the society or it was a normal procedure. Men at that time had the control on the lives of women. Abigail had oftentimes, consulted her husband on domestic problems, as those of Mr. Hayden’s and Mr. Trotts’s housing crisis. So it was too difficult to change laws and attitudes that were long held in history. It looks though that it was an impossibility. The letter of Abigail was significant because at least there was one woman who was brave enough to question male dominance in the society and asked why men are always in control. This could probably became a turning point for women’s movement, wherein years later, more on the late 1700s and early 1800s, showed considerable actions on women’s right movements. There is a little bit of difference in women’s movements between 1700s and 1800s wherein the former years asked for liberalization of women’s rights, while in 1800s, women asked for reforms. They asked for suffrage rights, prison reform, and mental care for the needy. They asked for policy measures from the government that was related to agrarian, labor reform, and birth control. Men and women together showed action and dedication to work for a change. Slowly, women lives changed as they held works and jobs separately. Politically, their movements for suffrage rights were long and hard. The Seneca Convention and several marches of women were strong indications and their firm determination to express their sentiments for the right to vote. As women gained rights, they began to spread in the several fields of work. They started to find appropriate jobs for them. Women even outnumbered men in some fields of work. But despite of all these, there was still inequality, as pays of women are lower than men for the same job. On the other hand, cheap labors fired up industrialization. Factory owners were happy because they had cheap labor that led to opening of more factories. So this is another seed of discontentment that women fought for. Indeed, Abigail Adams was correct, because she sparked the idealism for women and became an influential figure of her time. Little did she know that her letter would chart the destiny of women. Had she kept her cool and quiet, progress could have been stalled. What I could conclude here is the role of women in the early years expanded the economic horizon of the nation and the legal rights of women. The spirit of activism and heroism which are still felt today is an aftermath of Abigail’s influence and that of the women who insisted on their rights. Once the women were granted privileges, significant changes were made. We now have women leaders in the government and heads of states, representatives and senators. Today, women are more in control of their bodies and have choices of their destinations in life such as getting higher education, getting a career, or go into business. Limiting laws were expanded such as recognizing shorter hours of work, rights to own properties, and sex discrimination diminished. Back then, works of women were limited to being seamstresses, factory workers or domestics. Now, women are all over in many professions that include professions not available for women before like doctors, engineers, or architects. Maybe, if the situation is set now, Mrs. Abigail Adams could easily fit in as a leader in the United Nations, or better else one of the women leaders in the world. We have witnessed several great women in history elected to the highest position in the land, such a Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of India, Golda Meir of Israel. She might have been appointed to the cabinet positions like Mrs. Clinton or an influential wife as Mrs. Barbara Bush, and who knows, maybe the first woman president of the United States. Work Cited The Book of Abigail and John. From AA to JA, March 1976. Pp. 121-122 - - From JA to AA, April 1976. Pp. 122-123. Adams Electronic Archive. Letter from Abigail Adams to John Adams, 12 July 1775. Massachusetts Historical Society. Web Women’s International Center. Women’s History in America. Web. Read More