Lesson 5: Remember the Ladies
Activities
Activity 1: Exploring Primary Sources
Abigail Adams's letter to John in which she encourages him to "remember the ladies" is one of the most famous pieces of correspondence between the two of them. In this activity, you'll closely read that letter or one of the letters that followed it in their correspondence. You may find it helpful to read the letter out loud in order to fully understand it. Often, when reading older texts that are substantially different from modern English, hearing the text spoken can make the meaning clearer. If you run into any trouble, ask a parent for help.
You may also find it helpful to review this guide to working with primary sources from the archived website of LEARN North Carolina, a program of the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Education. The guide walks you through strategies for analyzing primary sources, using correspondence between John and Abigail Adams as examples.
You may also find it helpful to review this guide to working with primary sources from the archived website of LEARN North Carolina, a program of the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Education. The guide walks you through strategies for analyzing primary sources, using correspondence between John and Abigail Adams as examples.
Web Link
Reading Primary Sources
You can click on the headings on the left under the red heading "Reading Primary Sources: Letters" that include five categories of analysis like "IDENTIFY THE SOURCE" to see questions that you could ask yourself about a historical letter. By clicking on each question, you'll be able to see the historical document; dragging your mouse to the blue subtitle areas will bring up text boxes with a historian's answer to the questions. Work through the categories and questions that interest you to give yourself a better feel for how a historian might approach a document like the letter you'll be reading.
This link was verified on 11/21/2023.
Web Link
Abigail Adams to John Adams March 31-April 5, 1776
Visit the Massachusetts Historical Society website and read this along with the following two letters, all of which are quoted in Chapter 10 of today's reading.
This link was verified on 8/26/2023.
Web Link
Web Link
There are two options for this activity. In both options, you'll select one of the letters above to read. In Option 1, you will fill out an activity page about how the letter might be used by a historian. In Option 2, you will use the letter as your text as you work through the questions presented by the LEARN North Carolina website. Ask a parent which option you should complete.
In this activity, your child will consider a letter between John and Abigail Adams that is quoted in Chapter 10 of today's reading. In Option 1, he will read the full text of the letter, take notes on its contents, and then answer some questions about how the author made use of the letter in the biography and about the other ways in which the letter might have been used. In Option 2, your child will just select one of the letters and read through it while thinking about the categories of analysis and mentally answering the questions presented in the NCpedia Reading Primary Sources webpage. You could also discuss the questions together, working through them one at a time as you look through the letter. The first option is more complex, requiring that your child think like a historian to discover ways that a letter could be used in historical analysis. In Option 2, your child will walk through several steps of analyzing a primary source — this option may be best if you are short on time or if you think your child could benefit from a step-by-step approach to learning document analysis.
Option 1: Exploring Primary Sources
Read the full text of one or more of the letters (web links provided in the introduction to the activity), all of which were cited in today's reading. You may, if you'd like, read other letters from the same few weeks of correspondence.
As you read, jot down your thoughts on what is interesting in the letter. Using the "Exploring Primary Sources" activity page, you will compare your thoughts on the letter you read with the way the biography's author used it in the book, giving you the chance to think about how the author used this letter and how it might have been used differently.
As you read, jot down your thoughts on what is interesting in the letter. Using the "Exploring Primary Sources" activity page, you will compare your thoughts on the letter you read with the way the biography's author used it in the book, giving you the chance to think about how the author used this letter and how it might have been used differently.
Student Activity Page
In this activity, your child will compare his own thoughts on the letter he chose to the ways in which the author used that same letter. He will read the full text of the letter, take notes on its contents, and then answer some questions about how the author made use of the letter in the biography and about the other ways in which the letter might have been used. Your child's answers to the questions on the activity page may vary depending on the letter, his own creative ideas about what other topics the letter could be used to illuminate, or his thoughts on the other ways the author might have used the letter as a source. He might, for example, mention that the "Remember the Ladies" letter also mentions fears of smallpox, planting of crops, the sense of peace as displaced people returned to their homes, illness in the family, and the making of soap and saltpeter among other things, and so it's possible that the letter could be used as a source of evidence for discussing any of those topics and more!
Option 2: Analyzing Historical Documents
In this option, you'll select one of the letters (web links provided in the introduction to the activity) and read through it while thinking about the categories of analysis presented on the NCpedia Reading Primary Sources webpage. You may find it helpful to print out the letter that you're working with so that you can use the printout as a reference as you go through each question on the NCpedia site. You should answer each of the questions presented on that website mentally — really think about each question seriously and look for specific places in the letter that will provide the evidence you need to help you answer the questions. Remember that some questions may be difficult to answer, given the information provided in the letter, so you may not be able to adequately answer all of them. This is true for historical researchers, too — sometimes they can't answer all of the questions they are wondering about with a single historical document. You may want to talk through each question with a parent as you go.
In this option, your child will just select one of the letters and read through it while thinking about the categories of analysis and mentally answering the questions presented in the NCpedia Reading Primary Sources webpage. You could also discuss the questions together, working through them one at a time as you look through the letter. This would be a great way for you to check your child's understanding of the historical document and having some fun sharing your own historical insights!
Activity 2: Men's and Women's Roles
In the early years of marriage during her husband's absence, Abigail Adams had to handle not only the household duties that were usually a wife's responsibility at the time but also the duties that usually fell to a husband. Even though she was not politically active herself (since women were not allowed to vote or hold office in this time period), Abigail had a great deal of influence on her husband, who was instrumental in shaping the direction that the revolution would take and the form that any new government might have. When John was in the Continental Congress and beginning to imagine what a new government might look like, Abigail urged him to "Remember the Ladies" in his considerations. While John did not take her comments as seriously as she would have liked, Abigail freely shared her views on this issue as in all things with her husband, and their mutual respect for each other meant that he listened to her, even if he did not always act on her suggestions.
In this activity, you'll explore men's and women's roles, either in the time in which Abigail and John Adams lived (Option 1) or in the present day (Option 2). Choose the option that you would prefer to complete.
In this activity, you'll explore men's and women's roles, either in the time in which Abigail and John Adams lived (Option 1) or in the present day (Option 2). Choose the option that you would prefer to complete.
This activity focuses on the roles of men and women, especially during the time when Abigail Adams lived. In Option 1, your child will consider the roles of men and women at the time of the revolution, and in Option 2, your child will interview parents to see how household responsibilities are divided in your own family. Read over the options together and allow your child to choose the one that he would like to complete.
Option 1: Expectations and Realities
At the time of the revolution, the responsibilities of adults in colonial society were relatively strictly divided between duties for men and duties for women. In this activity, you'll explore the roles that John and Abigail Adams took on in their marriage and the ways in which some of those roles shifted when John had to be away. Follow the instructions on the "Exploring Roles" page.
Student Activity Page
In this activity, your child will explore the duties of John and Abigail Adams and the ways that those roles shifted when John was away on legal or political business. Abigail wound up shouldering much of the burden of household management, not only fulfilling her own duties but also managing many things that were usually a man's job. Answers may vary, but the answer key provides possible answers. For the last question, your child may believe that shouldering John's responsibilities may have given Abigail confidence in women's abilities to manage the affairs of men, or he may have felt that Abigail believed that taking on so much of what would normally be John's jobs had given her the right to consider the affairs of the household "theirs" instead of "his" and perhaps also to demand more equal treatment.
Answer Key
Option 2: Then and Now
Today, household responsibilities tend to be divided more evenly between spouses than they were in colonial times. More women earn incomes outside the home, and women have political and economic rights that they did not have at the time in which Abigail Adams lived. In this activity, you'll explore the division of household labor in a two-parent household, either your own or that of someone you know. Think about how the same duties might have been divided differently at the time of the revolution. Follow the instructions on the "Household Responsibilities" page.
Student Activity Page
In this activity, your child explored the division of household labor in a two-parent household. If your family is a one-parent family, you may discuss your own parents' division of labor or invite your child to talk to someone else about the division of labor in his or her family. This activity may provide a great opportunity to talk to your child about all of the responsibilities that must be attended to in running a household and about the ways in which adults can share those responsibilities equitably.