In May 1780, John Adams (who would become our 2nd POTUS) wrote, from Paris, France, a letter to his wife Abigail. In that letter, he stated: “I must study Politicks and War that my sons may have liberty to study Painting and Poetry Mathematicks and Philosophy. My sons ought to study Mathematicks and Philosophy, Geography, natural History…
In May 1780, John Adams (who would become our 2nd POTUS) wrote, from Paris, France, a letter to his wife Abigail. In that letter, he stated: “I must study Politicks and War that my sons may have liberty to study Painting and Poetry Mathematicks and Philosophy. My sons ought to study Mathematicks and Philosophy, Geography, natural History, Naval Architecture, navigation, Commerce and Agriculture, in order to give their Children a right to study Painting, Poetry, Musick, Architecture, Statuary, Tapestry and Porcelaine.“
You can access the letter in its entirety here: Letter from John Adams to Abigail Adams, post 12 May 1780 [electronic edition]. Adams Family Papers: An Electronic Archive. Massachusetts Historical Society. http://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/
I thought I read somewhere that Abigail sent him several letters suggesting women might also be allowed to vote.
Times have changed more in the last 50 than in the previous 200. My own father did not "Mathematicks and Philosophy, Geography, Natural History, Naval Architecture, or Navigation" as suitable subjects of study for a woman.
You’re right! Abigail did write to John, on March 1, 1776, saying, in part, “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 favorable 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 particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.”
John's reply was not so enlightened . . . He told her she was being saucy and that she should rest assured that he and his allies would never relinquish their "masculine institutions" in order to aid women. Abigail didn't talk to him for several months after that reply because she was so pissed off.
Thank you Rev. Judith - I have deeply concurred with the sentiment John Adams articulates in this quote from his letter:
"I must study Politicks and War that my sons may have liberty to study Painting and Poetry Mathematicks and Philosophy."
Political leadership is the human vocation of highest social consequence because it determines what values inhabit and are enacted by our institutions. In the industrial age consciousness of university trained and professionalized vocations we operate with a division of labor and specialization of skills orientation. The art and craft of the vocation of the political leader is the old one of being able to talk to everybody, find the alignments with situations of every person and help move the network of institutions of society to enact their next living cycles. The politician leader cannot operate with specialized craftsmen's consciousness of the professional of the industrial age or the age of University education.
John Adams' sentence is an acknowledgment of the fact that our political leaders are the keepers of the health and adaptability of our institutions which in turn make the rest of ongoing society possible.
In May 1780, John Adams (who would become our 2nd POTUS) wrote, from Paris, France, a letter to his wife Abigail. In that letter, he stated: “I must study Politicks and War that my sons may have liberty to study Painting and Poetry Mathematicks and Philosophy. My sons ought to study Mathematicks and Philosophy, Geography, natural History, Naval Architecture, navigation, Commerce and Agriculture, in order to give their Children a right to study Painting, Poetry, Musick, Architecture, Statuary, Tapestry and Porcelaine.“
You can access the letter in its entirety here: Letter from John Adams to Abigail Adams, post 12 May 1780 [electronic edition]. Adams Family Papers: An Electronic Archive. Massachusetts Historical Society. http://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/
That makes it all the more depressing that the White House is filled to the brim with boors.
I thought I read somewhere that Abigail sent him several letters suggesting women might also be allowed to vote.
Times have changed more in the last 50 than in the previous 200. My own father did not "Mathematicks and Philosophy, Geography, Natural History, Naval Architecture, or Navigation" as suitable subjects of study for a woman.
You’re right! Abigail did write to John, on March 1, 1776, saying, in part, “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 favorable 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 particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.”
Read more at:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.history.com/.amp/this-day-in-history/abigail-adams-urges-husband-to-remember-the-ladies
John's reply was not so enlightened . . . He told her she was being saucy and that she should rest assured that he and his allies would never relinquish their "masculine institutions" in order to aid women. Abigail didn't talk to him for several months after that reply because she was so pissed off.
Thank you Rev. Judith - I have deeply concurred with the sentiment John Adams articulates in this quote from his letter:
"I must study Politicks and War that my sons may have liberty to study Painting and Poetry Mathematicks and Philosophy."
Political leadership is the human vocation of highest social consequence because it determines what values inhabit and are enacted by our institutions. In the industrial age consciousness of university trained and professionalized vocations we operate with a division of labor and specialization of skills orientation. The art and craft of the vocation of the political leader is the old one of being able to talk to everybody, find the alignments with situations of every person and help move the network of institutions of society to enact their next living cycles. The politician leader cannot operate with specialized craftsmen's consciousness of the professional of the industrial age or the age of University education.
John Adams' sentence is an acknowledgment of the fact that our political leaders are the keepers of the health and adaptability of our institutions which in turn make the rest of ongoing society possible.
Thank you so much,
Alok
John Adams was a highly enlightened man!