Mercer County Library

Abigail and John Adams, the Americanization of sensibility, G. J. Barker-Benfield

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

individual biography

index present

non fiction

Abigail and John Adams

bibliography

537308944

G. J. Barker-Benfield

the Americanization of sensibility

Draws on the correspondence between Abigail and John Adams during the American Revolution to explore a relationship threatened by separation, a country in its infancy, and the earliest understandings of what it means to be American

Origins, definitions, and social circumstances -- The metropolitan sources of the Adamses' views of sensibility -- The meanings of sensibility -- The theory of gendered sensibility -- Social circles and the reformation of female manners -- Young American women enter the world -- Particular applications -- A woman's struggle over sensibility -- Sensibility and reform -- Abigail's perspective, public versus private -- John Adams and the reformation of male manners -- The pleasures and pains of public life -- Private perpetuation -- Raising children with sensibility -- A reformed rake? -- The question answered -- Conclusion -- The Americanization of sensibility