Wise Women Friday: Abigail Adams

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Words of wisdom from Abigail Adams, first lady, farmer, mother, intellectual and champion of women's rights:

I can not say that I think you are very generous to the Ladies, for whilst you are proclaiming peace and good will to Men, Emancipating all Nations, you insist upon retaining an absolute power over Wives.

If you do not think that the American Declaration of Independence is a radical and revolutionary document then you have never read it. It changed the world. It is still changing the world. The Declaration of Independence not only proclaimed American freedom from Great Britain, but it provided the language and rationale for every major civil rights campaign in U.S. history. As Adams suggests, the Declaration's ink was barely dry before people denied the full rights of citizenship demanded their piece of the pie. Early abolitionists used the Declaration to highlight the injustice of slavery, and early women's rights advocates echoed the Declaration when they proclaimed that "all men AND WOMEN are created equal." Even today, when Americans talk about equality, when they proclaim it a right, they tie themselves to the language of the American Revolution, the language codified in the Declaration.

The Declaration represents America's highest ideals and promise. Long may it reign.