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Primary sourceLetter24 June 1785

Letter from Abigail Adams to Mary Smith Cranch, 24 June 1785

Abigail Adams · 24 June 1785

A letter in which Abigail Adams describes being presented at the British royal court, giving an American's view of court ritual.

Abigail Adams wrote this letter describing her presentation at the British royal court.

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Dark red cloth book cover with a white Library of Congress label bearing the words LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, a barcode, the number 00027912114, and a red dot. The cover has no title visible.
Subjects: Adams, John, 1735-1826; Bible

About this source

What it is

This letter was written by Abigail Adams to her sister Mary Smith Cranch on 24 June 1785. In it she describes being presented at the Court of St James's to King George III and Queen Charlotte. It is held among the Adams Papers.

Why it matters

As the wife of John Adams, the first U.S. minister to Britain, Abigail Adams found herself navigating the formal customs of the very monarchy the United States had just broken from. Her sharp, personal observations show how an American woman experienced and judged European aristocratic ritual soon after independence.

Look closer

  • Why might Abigail Adams have wanted to describe this event to her sister rather than to an official audience?
  • What can a personal letter tell us that an official report of the same event could not?
  • How might an American visitor's view of a royal court differ from a British person's view of the same event?

This letter is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Abigail Adams on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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