Throughout our study of the literature of the American Revolution we have been primarily reading the texts of the founding fathers and other men of the period. However, women played an important role in the founding of our country and contributed greatly to its literature and political texts. Two women that made significant contributions to the arts and politics are Phillis Wheatley and Abigail Adams.
Brought from Africa on the slave trade, Phillis Wheatley was given a formal education by her masters, and went on to write some of the most beautiful poetry of early America.
The first First-Lady, Abigail Adams was vital to the forming of America. Outspoken and highly educated,
she provided her husband, 2nd President John Adams, with political council throughout the 40+ years of their marriage. Her advice and opinion was also sought after by other founding fathers, and her letters to her husband serve as important seminal texts in the Revolutionary literature.