3 ms·

Kind of interesting that John wrote 'my' instead of 'our'.

sverige 10y ago
There was no sort of feminism 200 years ago, so of course they were his sons and it was his duty. Most of the autobiographies of the 19th century were written by men who did not mention their wives, not because they did not love and honor their wives, but because it was understood that women did not have a public role, and scrutiny of the private business of great men was not welcome.
- logfromblammo 10y ago
  Also, many men were widowed and then remarried, perhaps multiple times. Many of my male ancestors from that time had 3 wives, no divorces, and at least 2 children from each wife. Some of them may have had illegitimate children, but those are much harder to verify genealogically. Society becomes markedly different with contraception and modern obstetrics.
  - GFK_of_xmaspast 10y ago
    While this is technically true, in the particular case John Adams was married only once, to Abigail, with whom they had six children.
    - logfromblammo 10y ago
      My spouse and I frequently refer to one child or the other as "that's your kid", usually when exhibiting a trait characteristic of one parent in particular. John Adams may have been referring to a theoretical class of sons that may have included unborn future sons, which may or may not have been born to Abigail. He might have said to her that he wants his sons to share his values, just as he might suggest that her sons should share hers, and it would be coincidence that those two classes happen to be identical. Or he might have believed that all sons were intrinsically their father's children, not their mother's. It's a lot of implied meaning to derive from a possessive pronoun. I wouldn't make too much of it.
- mturmon 10y ago
  On the other hand, Abigail Adams was a remarkable outlier to this general trend. She was a feminist before there was really a feminist movement, and asked John to include women's concerns in the new American government. He largely declined. (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abigail_Adams https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abigail_Adams)

There was no sort of feminism 200 years ago, so of course they were his sons and it was his duty. Most of the autobiographies of the 19th century were written by men who did not mention their wives, not because they did not love and honor their wives, but because it was understood that women did not have a public role, and scrutiny of the private business of great men was not welcome.

logfromblammo 10y ago
Also, many men were widowed and then remarried, perhaps multiple times. Many of my male ancestors from that time had 3 wives, no divorces, and at least 2 children from each wife. Some of them may have had illegitimate children, but those are much harder to verify genealogically. Society becomes markedly different with contraception and modern obstetrics.
- GFK_of_xmaspast 10y ago
  While this is technically true, in the particular case John Adams was married only once, to Abigail, with whom they had six children.
  - logfromblammo 10y ago
    My spouse and I frequently refer to one child or the other as "that's your kid", usually when exhibiting a trait characteristic of one parent in particular. John Adams may have been referring to a theoretical class of sons that may have included unborn future sons, which may or may not have been born to Abigail. He might have said to her that he wants his sons to share his values, just as he might suggest that her sons should share hers, and it would be coincidence that those two classes happen to be identical. Or he might have believed that all sons were intrinsically their father's children, not their mother's. It's a lot of implied meaning to derive from a possessive pronoun. I wouldn't make too much of it.
mturmon 10y ago
On the other hand, Abigail Adams was a remarkable outlier to this general trend. She was a feminist before there was really a feminist movement, and asked John to include women's concerns in the new American government. He largely declined. (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abigail_Adams https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abigail_Adams)