Opus 2019-121: The Revised, Revised Abigail Adams

The history books that I used to work through in teaching middle school were constantly being revised.  There were two goals of the revision.  One was to dumb them down so that the kids could read them.  The second was to meet the latest revisionist demands of social justice warriors.  One of the requirements was to have a quota of minorities and women.  One of the women that was often referred to was Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, second president of the United States.

I had no problem with her.  I had read biographies of her husband and knew that they had a very close and loving relationship.  The thing that set my pot to boiling was having her portrayed as an early feminist.  She was supposed to have been a rabid advocate of women’s rights but her concern was not power like modern feminism.  She was really all about fair treatment.  I am sure that she had some things to say but I doubt if she would have been happy about the portrayal. 

I came across a quote in Vindicating the Founders.  The author was trying to give a more accurate description of what the early Americans thought.  On page 94 the author offers the following quote from Abigail Adams,

 “Well ordered home is my chief delight, and the affectionate domestic wife with the relative duties which accompany that character my highest ambition.”

She was writing to her husband on June 20 1783 according to the footnotes.  Somehow that does not seem to fit the stereotypes that are being pushed in our modern culture.  Be careful what you read and hear.  Be double careful if it comes from a teacher or a text book.  Fake News is bigger than today’s headlines.

West, Thomas G.  Vindicating the Founders.  Lanham, Maryland: Rowman &
     Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 1997.

homo unius libri