People of the Revolution, and Patriot and Loyalist views
Grade 8 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence
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Remember the Ladies, 1776 (cards A to C). Card A, Abigail Adams to John Adams, March 31 to April 5, 1776, from the Adams Family Papers at the Massachusetts Historical Society (spelling as printed; cuts marked): "I long to hear that you have declared an independency -- and by the way 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 favourable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. If perticuliar care and attention is not paid to the Laidies we are determined to foment a Rebelion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation." Card B, John Adams to Abigail Adams, April 14, 1776, same collection (spelling as printed; cuts marked): "As to your extraordinary Code of Laws, I cannot but laugh." "… your Letter was the first Intimation that another Tribe more numerous and powerfull than all the rest were grown discontented." "Depend upon it, We know better than to repeal our Masculine systems. Altho they are in full Force, you know they are little more than Theory." "We have only the Name of Masters, and rather than give up this, which would compleatly subject Us to the Despotism of the Peticoat, I hope General Washington, and all our brave Heroes would fight." Card C, a summary in our words: both letters are private letters between a wife and a husband. John Adams was serving in the Continental Congress, which had not yet declared independence when Abigail wrote. Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
Card A is a private letter from Abigail Adams to her husband. What is it best evidence for, Ari asks?
- What most women in the colonies demanded in 1776
- What the Continental Congress decided about women's rights
- A later historian's summary of Abigail Adams's ideas about women
- One woman's view, to her husband, of what the new laws should do
Card B begins "I cannot but laugh." How should a reader take John Adams's reply, Esme asks?
- As proof that he was angry with her and ended the letters
- As an official ruling by the Continental Congress on the Ladies' request
- As a teasing reply that engages her request but promises no change
- As a promise that he will add women's rights to the new laws
A student writes: "John Adams agreed to add women's rights to the new laws." How strong is that claim, given cards A and B, Jun asks?
- Strong: card A says the husbands had already agreed to her request
- Strong: card B admits her letter showed a Tribe "more numerous and powerfull" than the rest
- Strong: he later sat on the committee that drafted the Declaration
- Weak: card B laughs at the request and says men will not "repeal our Masculine systems"
A student writes: "Abigail Adams wanted women to be able to vote." How strong is that claim, given card A, Kira asks?
- Partly: she wants a "voice, or Representation" in laws, but never mentions voting
- Weak: card A says nothing about women having a say in laws
- Strong: card A says the Ladies are "determined to foment a Rebelion"
- Weak: card B says men are the subjects in practice, so women already ruled and no change was needed
Which statement do both letters, A and B, support, Milo asks?
- Both say the Declaration of Independence had already been adopted by Congress
- Neither letter can be used, since both are private
- Both treat women's place in the new laws as a topic in spring 1776
- Both were written on the same day in March
Card B is John Adams's reply. Why can it not speak for everyone in Congress, Noah asks?
- It was written before Abigail's letter, so it answers nothing
- It is one man's private reply, written with teasing humor
- Congress voted on the letter before it was sent to Abigail
- John Adams wrote it on behalf of the whole Continental Congress
Card C says the Declaration was adopted on July 4. What does that mean for reading Abigail's "I long to hear that you have declared an independency," Pia asks?
- She wrote on the day it was adopted, July 4
- She was reporting that independence had been declared
- She wrote about three months before it, hoping for independence
- She wrote after it, to complain about what the Declaration said
What new evidence would best show whether Abigail's request changed what John did in Congress, Ren asks?
- Records of what John Adams said and did in Congress that spring
- A speech by John Adams from many years later
- Another copy of Abigail's letter in a different clerk's handwriting
- A record of the weather in Braintree that spring
Whose view is missing from the pair of letters, Tala asks?
- Abigail's view, because just John's letter appears on the card
- Women outside the Adams family, including enslaved women
- Congress's official view, which both letters state
- No view is missing, because two letters give the whole picture of 1776
Both letters are private. How does that affect what they can show, Zee asks?
- Private writing can be franker, but it shows only the writers' own views
- Private letters always give the full truth about what the writers thought
- Private letters show what the whole country believed in 1776
- Private letters cannot be used as evidence at all
