When Abigail Adams requested that her husband, John, "Remember the Ladies" in the new code of laws he and his colleagues sought to establish, it was hardly surprising to read John's dismissal of her concerns. With all the turmoil occurring at the time due to the revolution, it would only be expected that the matters of those underrepresented would be pushed to the back burner in favor of maintaining a community united behind the fight for independence. The men in power were preoccupied, and it simply wasn't a good time to host a reformation that would grant women more political power.
Such reasoning would be completely understandable if it hadn't taken so much more than the end of the revolution to give women's rights a second thought- if it hadn't remained a less than ideal time to consider their suffrage for nearly one hundred fifty years. Although it seems like a minuscule issue, how many women must have been silenced much like Abigail over the course of history in order for it to take until 1920 for women to receive a say in the system they were governed by?
It's curious to consider: Is there ever truly an ideal time for change? Maybe there is and history would have led an entirely different course had John Adams listened to his wife's pleas, bringing a new set of controversies to congress discussions. But the way I see it, the belief that there
is a perfect time is an attitude that's most often detrimental. Lack of time is such a common excuse used to explain failure to complete tasks that simply aren't a priority, and too often we allow this mindset to hold us back from achieving our goals. Sure, sometimes there are better times than others regarding certain actions. More often than not though, the perfect time is a matter of perception- our dreams can only wait so long for us to invest our efforts in them.
Interesting take on the letters in relation with time. I never really thought of just how absurd it was that people kept pushing away the idea of giving women more rights simply because of timing excuses like in this case.
ReplyDeleteThis was an interesting read. I like how you took our in class reading and related it to current events. You're right, people always make excuses to avoid change. Thanks for the insight!
ReplyDeleteI like how you took the letters we read in class and turned the discussion to something different. It's definitely interesting to put the plea into context and consider the timing of everything.
ReplyDeleteI love the way you interpreted the exchange of letters! For a lot of the things we do, there is no "perfect time" to do them. We always have something going on, and when something isn't a top priority in our brains, we don't do it till it has to be done, which seems to be exactly what John Adams did.
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