Use the excerpt to answer the question. . . . 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. . . . If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment [incite; instigate] a Rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation. . . . —Abigail Adams, letter to John Adams
How does Abigail Adams use the ideas of the patriots to support her cause?
A.by claiming that women have the right to rebel if they do not have a voice in government
B.by declaring women to be independent from and having the same rights as men
C.by comparing the existing British laws with the laws that the patriots feel need to be established D.by insisting that history has always been unfair to women
A. by claiming that women have the right to rebel if they do not have a voice in government
In this letter, Abigail Adams draws upon the revolutionary spirit of the time, appealing to the ideas of representation and voice in government - which were key grievances of the American colonists against British rule - to argue for the rights and consideration of women in the new laws being formed. She suggests that, just as the patriots demand representation and a voice in their governance, so too should women. This is a strategic use of the existing arguments for independence and democratic principles to highlight the inconsistency in denying women their rights. She even hints at the same right to rebellion the patriots claimed for themselves in the face of unjust governance.