Diplomacy and Domesticity: Abigail Adams on Education, Economics, and the Patriotic Life
An online exhibition exploring her missions to England and France (1784-1788)
Blyth, Benjamin. Abigail Adams (Mrs. John Adams). 1766. Pastel on paper. Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, MA. Accessed May 30, 2019. https://www.masshist.org/database/69.
When Abigail Adams boarded a ship bound for Europe in 1784, it would be her first trip abroad; despite years of public, political life in the United States, she had never been afforded the opportunity to leave the continent, let alone to serve on a diplomatic mission to the French and English court.
Abigail's resulting four years in Europe (1784-1788) marked a cosmopolitan shift in her thinking. Through the lenses of education, economics and patriotism, this exhibition invites you to explore Adams' time in Europe; each lens will elaborate on the ideas surrounding America's desire to assert itself as a new nation and the character, personality, observations and motivations of one of America's founding families.
I would also like to thank Jenna Wolf from the Cambridge School of Weston library for your help, constant support, time and curiosity as my teacher advisor. This project would not be possible without the help and encouragement I received.