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To Tell the Truth
with
Abigail Adams
* With permission from Mark Goodson Productions
Host:Today's guest is Abigail Adams. Only one of the three on the panel is the REAL Abigail Adams. The other two are impostors. Your job is to listen carefully to the information presented and decide which of the three guests is the REAL Abigail Adams. Let's begin by meeting our guests.
Abigail Adams 1: Good Day, Students. I am Abigail Adams.
Abigail Adams 2: It is a pleasure to be here today. I am Abigail Adams.
Abigail Adams 3: Hello, students. My name is Abigail Adams.
Host:Let's begin by reading this short summary on Abigail Adams:
I, was born November 11, 1744, in Weymouth ,MA. My parents were William and Elizabeth Quincy Smith. I witnessed the American Revolution and actually saw some of the battles. I married John Adams, who went on to become the first Vice President of the United States and the 2nd President of the United States. We were married for many, many years. John called me, "my best, dearest, worthiest, wisest friend in this world". Although we were often apart, we corresponded with letters, of which over 2000 remain today.I don't mean to be a name dropper but I knew many famous people in American history including George and Martha Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and,I met Ben Franklin. I never wished my private letters to become public believing that it wasn't appropriate for a woman's private correspondence to be read by the public. However,my grandson first published them in a book in 1848. It was the first book on a first lady! Historians say that I was one of the greatest first ladies. I was one of only two women that was the wife of a president and,mother of another president. (The other was First Lady Barbara Bush). Unfortunately, I didn't live to see my son, John Quincy Adams become president, but I am sure my son did a wonderful job! For someone who was so sickly, it wasn't thought that I'd live to be an adult. I did have a long life. I died of typhoid at the age of 73, in 1818.
Signed,
Abigail Adams
Panelist 1:Your little sister called you Nabby, as she had difficulty saying "Abigail"and the name stuck. What other memories do you have about growing up as a young girl that you could share with us?
Adams 1: I remember my dog, Rover. One day, Rover ran through wet paint that had just been used on the kitchen floor. Rover jumped on me and got paint all over my dress. Not wanting my mother to see the dress, I went upstairs and took out some scissors. I cut all the areas of paint out of my dress. I had ruined it even more. When I returned to the living room, my mother was angry. She said that I needed to learn to think before I did things.
Adams 2: Gunpowder was kept in the town's meeting house. All towns kept a stock of gunpowder on hand in case of an attack. My brother and his friends decided to sneak into the meeting house one night and take some gunpowder for their guns so they could target practice. I promised I won't tell but I knew I had to do something as I was afraid the boys could get hurt. I brought our dog, Rover, to the meeting house, late that night. Later, when the boys tried to sneak into the building, their heard Rover making noise inside and ran away. Not long after this, lightning hit the meeting house, igniting the gunpowder , causing an explosion, destroying the meeting house. Fortunately, no one was injured. I was glad the explosion didn't happen that night when the boys tried to get inside the building.
Adams 3: One day, Phoebe Abdee, a slave, who worked in our home(and I would later say after my parents had died,"the only surviving Parent I have)read my fortune from the tea leaves in my cup. She said that I would cross the ocean one day.(I did,traveling with my husband John, to France when he was a diplomat), and that one day people would know me all over the world.(Guess, that came true, too!)
Panelist 2:Your father once told you to speak harshly of no one and to switch the conversation to "things rather than persons". Any other memories of your childhood?
Adams 1:My grandmother once said to my mother that "wild colts make the best horses" in reference to the fact I was rather stubborn when it came to things I wanted. One thing I really wanted was to go to school!
Adams 2:My dad would sit by the fireplace and tell stories. I also enjoyed when he'd read to me especially the works of the English playwright Shakespeare. I begged father to let me go to school but mother wouldn't allow it. She said I was too sickly to go to school. I was taught at home by my father and taught myself a lot about science. Thankfully, we had a large library in our home. As an adult, I was always embarrassed by my poor spelling and penmanship.
Adams 3:My dad gave me a lamb when I was 10. I was so excited and during lambing time enjoyed spending time in the barn. My mom didn't think such behavior was proper for a girl. She thought I should stay in the parlor. I thought I could do both and be a lady.
Panelists 3: You were very determined, and had a curiosity to learn as much as you could. In a time before texting and email, you began a lifelong activity of writing letters to your friends and later, to your husband John, who was gone for long periods of time. What kind of student were you, Abigail Adams?
Adams 1:In my day, girls didn't usually go to school. If they did, they may have attended "Dame schools". There weren't public schools when I was young. Usually in the home of a woman, children at "Dame schools" were taught reading, religion, math and morals. My sisters attended the school in my town but because I was so sickly, my mother, wouldn't allow me to go. in just one week,in 1751, 11 people died from diphtheria,in my town. Mother being overprotective and not allowing me to go to school bothered me very much!
Adams 2:I loved school and did attend a Dame School with my siblings. I was especially good in math and computer classes.
Adams 3: I didn't go to school. I stayed home learning to sew and cook. I never learned to read or write, something which was embarrassing to me when I was an adult and couldn't read all the letters that came addressed to me, the First Lady. My husband, the President, had to read them to me.I enjoyed the fact, he often used different voices, like an English, French, Indian and southern accent when he read the letters to me.
Panelist 4:
During your husband's presidency, you spent most of your four years in the temporary capital of Philadelphia, while the "Federal City"(Washington, DC, was being built. What was it like when you first moved into the The President's House as it was called at the time?
Adams 1:It was awful. Perfectly awful. There were only six completed when we moved in AND there weren't any finished staircases! The place was so cold and damp. I actually kept all 13 fireplaces burning and I used one of the finished rooms to hang the family's laundry. I believe today that room is called the East Room. Fortunately, we only lived in the President's house for four months.
Adams 2: As the first family to live in the White House, it was a huge honor. It was so beautifully decorated. I had special white dinnerware designed with a purple silhouette of both John and me. Wanting to make it a "green house", I had engineers place solar panels on the roof so we could heat our water.
Adams 3: I agree with Adams 1. The President's House was not finished so it wasn't a very comfortable place to live. There was mud everywhere, as the city was still under construction. I was always moping the floors since there weren't any workers to do such tasks as there weren't any buildings yet built for them to live in!
Panelist 5:As first lady, you were called,"Lady Adams". You spent much of your day, receiving visitors-sometimes as many as 60 a day. You hosted and planned dinner parties(and, planned one of the first July 4th celebrations). Back then, calling cards were used. It was proper etiquette to return visits. This took lots of your time. You eventually made a point of going out to return calls after 6PM, knowing people would probably not be home. This way, you could see 16-20 people in one evening. How did the public react to you as the 2nd First Lady?
Adams 1: Unlike most women of my time, I loved politics and all aspects of government! I was a close advisor to my husband, the President,and helped edit his speeches and debated policy. I also attended House of Representative meetings .Some of my husbands opponents mocked me by calling me Mrs. President and Her Majesty. I just ignored such remarks.
Adams 2:Most women during my time, had nothing to do with politics, so like Martha Washington, I continued to be a first lady that entertained and and refrained from commenting on politics. The public loved me.
Adams 3: As Adams 2 stated, I was extremely popular. I had so many friends on my Facebook page. I often used Skype and IChat to keep in touch with my husband, the President, when he was out of town.
Panelist 6:First ladies often have issues that are of importance to them. Education, nutrition, literacy, are just a few of the issues of other first ladies while they lived in the White House. In a letter to your husband dated March 31, 1775, you made one of the earliest known arguments for women's political rights in U.S. history saying to your husband,""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." What other issues were importance to you?
Adams 1: I opposed slavery and was upset by the number of slaves doing work in Washington, DC. I also believed strongly in equal education for boys and girls.
Adams 2: I was totally opposed to off shore oil drilling and wanted to see NASA fund a mission to Mars.
Adams 3: I wanted to see the Bald Eagle made the national symbol of our country. I also wanted Congress to establish the chocolate chip cookie, the national dessert of our country.
Host: It is now time for the panelists and members of our audience to decide who is the REAL Abigail Adams. Please vote for number 1, number 2 or number 3. Alright, the votes have been cast...Will the REAL Abigail Adams, please stand up?
Additional Information:
As students read the play, consider pausing between one or more of the panelists' questions to review the information students have heard. Invite opinions about which guest may be the real Abigail Adams, encouraging students to share their reasoning along with their responses. Remind the class that only the real guest must always tell the truth.
Time for the REAL Abigail Adams To Please Stand Up!
Once all the votes have been cast, establish that Adams 1
is the real Abigail Adams. Then review the play, making sure that students are aware of the correct facts from each section of the play:
Note:
Panelists #1 and #2: All responses are correct
Discussion Questions:
1. Would you have liked Abigail for a friend? Explain why or why not.
2. Make a list of the positive and negative characteristics of Abigail Adams.
3. What is something about Abigail Adams you found most interesting?
4. When did you suspect the other two Abigail Adams were impostors? Why?
5. If you were President or First Lady, what would be the 3 most important issues that you’d wish to promote while in office?
Activities:
1. Write a diary entry as if you were Abigail Adams and tell about a memory you had about something that happened to you.
Additional Resources:
Abigail Adams Girl of Colonial Days, by Jean Brown Wagoner,Aladdin PAperbacks,1949
Abigail Adams, by Helen Stone Peterson,A Discovery Book,1967
Website on Abigail Adams:
* Always check websites before having students use them.