Abigail Adams

Abigail Smith Adams was born in Massachusetts on November 11, 1744. She came from a prestigious family and was related to Thomas Sheppard and other Congregational ministers.  Like other women of her era, she had no formal education, but was curious and worked hard to teach herself.  She read any books that were available and became knowledgeable about a variety of subject matters most women never considered. Abigail married John Adams in 1764.  He was a young Harvard graduate teaching school and trying to launch a career in law.  She had three sons and two daughters. 

         Abigail Adams supported the revolution as well her husband.  John Adams spent a lot of time away from home, traveling for both his legal work and as a political revolutionary. She managed their farm and took care of business so that he, John Adams could devote himself to politics. Abigail Adams advised her husband on matters of politics. They wrote letters to each other frequently. In one of her most famous letters Abigail writes: 

"Remember the Ladies" in the drafting of the New Nation's law. But John dismissed her requests. The law reserved legal and political rights to husbands, and women's could vote only in New Jersey. 

        John Adams became president in 1797 John Adams was eager to have his wife at his side. As First Lady, Adams made a large impression on the public.  Her husband was reelected and lost in 1801. They return to Quincy, their home, and their main focus was their family and home. John Adams remained in correspondence with several political figures including President Thomas Jefferson. Abigail Adams died October 28, 1818.  Her son, John Quincy Adams became president 6 years after she passed away. 

General Cornwallis

  Charles Cornwallis was born at Grosvenor Square, London on December 31, 1738. He was the eldest son of Charles Cornwallis, 5th Baron Cornwallis. Cornwallis was educated at Eton College and Clare College, Cambridge. He fought in the Seven Years' War and served as a member of Parliament. Cornwallis served under Gen. William Howe at the battle of Long Island. After those wars they had he then became second in command to Sir Henry Clinton, the British commander in America, in 1778.  

          He took charge of the Southern campaign and won a costly victory against American General Nathanael Greene. He moved his troops into Virginia and then was surrounded by the French and American troops at Yorktown. He didn't  receive much needed  supplies, and he was forced to surrender by Generals Lafayette and Washington. He surrendered at Yorktown on October 19, 1781, which virtually won the War of Independence for the Americans.

         In 1798, he was made viceroy and commander-in-chief of Ireland. There he quenched an Irish rebellion and defeated an invading French force while gaining the respect of both Catholics and Protestants in that divided country. In 1805, he was restored to his post as Governor General of India, but he died there of fever shortly after arriving. In his own country and others, Lord General Charles Cornwallis is known as a hero, but to Americans he is remembered only for his surrender of Yorktown, the final battle of the American Revolutionary War.