The Adams-Jefferson Letters: The Complete Correspondence Between Thomas Jefferson and Abigail and John Adams Study Guide & Plot Synopsis

The Adams-Jefferson Letters: The Complete Correspondence Between Thomas Jefferson and Abigail and John Adams Plot Summary

Preview of The Adams-Jefferson Letters: The Complete Correspondence Between Thomas Jefferson and Abigail and John Adams Summary:

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were, respectively, the second and third presidents of the United States and crucial members of the Founding generation of the United States. The two men were friends for over fifty years and engaged in a correspondence over nearly that entire period, a correspondence that remains among the most famous in history. Only in The Adams-Jefferson Letters is the complete set of letters compiled for the first time.

The letters cover many mundane matters but also a wide range of issues, from government, philosophy and religion, to family grief and joy. Including within the correspondence is also Jefferson's correspondence with Abigail Adams, who cover, to a far lesser extent, many of the same matters.

Early in the letters, Adams and Jefferson mostly discuss political matters, but as the years wear on, particularly after their mutual retirements from politics, the two men turn to philosophical...
(read more)