Reveals how the European travels of John and Abigail Adams helped define what it meant to be an American From 1778 to 1788, the Founding Father and later President John Adams lived in Europe as a diplomat. Joined by his wife, Abigail, in 1784, the two shared rich encounters with famous heads of the European royal courts, including the ill-fated King Louis XVI and Queen Marie-Antoinette, and the staid British Monarchs King George III and Queen Charlotte. In this engaging narrative, A View from Abroad takes us on the first full exploration of the Adams’s lives abroad. Jeanne E. Abrams reveals how the journeys of John and Abigail Adams not only changed the course of their intellectual, political, and cultural development—transforming the couple from provincials to sophisticated world travelers—but most importantly served to strengthen their loyalty to America.Abrams shines a new light on how the Adamses and their American contemporaries set about supplanting their British origins with a new American identity. They and their fellow Americans grappled with how to reorder their society as the new nation took its place in the international transatlantic world. After just a short time abroad, Abigail maintained that, “My Heart and Soul is more American than ever. We are a family by ourselves .” The Adamses’ quest to define what it means to be an American, and the answers they discovered in their time abroad, still resonate with us to this day.
Оглавление
Jeanne E. Abrams. A View from Abroad
A View from Abroad. The Story of John and Abigail Adams in Europe
Contents
Introduction. An American Journey
1. John Adams. An American in Paris
2. Second Journey to Europe
3. Abigail in France. From the New World to the Old
4. Abigail and John in London. American Yankees in King George’s Court
5. The Final Years Abroad. John and Abigail Return to America
Conclusion. John and Abigail in a New America
Acknowledgments
Notes. Introduction
Chapter 1. John Adams
Chapter 2. Second Journey to Europe
Chapter 3. Abigail in France
Chapter 4. Abigail and John in London
Chapter 5. The Final Years Abroad
Conclusion
Bibliography. Primary Sources
Secondary Sources. Books
Articles
Index
About the Author
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Jeanne E. Abrams
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
.....
Despite the centuries-old history and cultural sophistication she encountered in Europe, Abigail remained convinced that life in America provided significantly more opportunity for citizens from all walks of life. The time she spent near Paris and then in London reinforced Abigail’s view that Americans were blessed in comparison to those living in the Old World, even in England, which she considered the most enlightened and progressive of the European nations. “How little cause of complaint have the inhabitants of the United States, when they compare their situation, not with despotic monarchies, but with this land [Great Britain] of freedom,” she declared. Moreover, Abigail looked askance at Americans who overtly criticized their homeland (even though she would often do so herself). “The ease with which honest industry may acquire property in America, the equal distribution of justice to the poor as well as the rich, and the personal liberty they enjoy,” she argued, “all call upon them to support their government and laws to respect their rulers and gratefully acknowledge their superior blessings.”29
Abigail’s patriotic zeal would only become stronger over time. She would later insist that her beloved country was a sovereign nation, one that should always remain independent of European influence. As she declared to her sister Mary Cranch years later when John served as president and when war with France appeared to be a distinct possibility, “As an independent Nation [the United States], no other has a Right to complain, or dictate to us, with whom we shall form connections.”30 Moreover, John and Abigail came to believe that America should set the standard for the world as a well-ordered society and that the American nation, if it adopted the proper form of government, would serve as an example of virtuous civic responsibility. In short, the Adamses exhibited an appreciation and reverence for human excellence in all aspects of life, which they hoped would characterize their new nation.
