In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln and wife Mary Todd were faced with the unfortunate occurrence of their son “Willie” passing away due to typhoid fever. During the duration of Lincoln and Mary Todd’s relationship, Mary Todd wrote letters to Lincoln expressing her feelings and keeping him up-to-date with the situations that occurred in the couple’s life. After the death of their sons, Mary grieved day and night. However, Lincoln responded to their death in a different way. The words that Mary Todd uses in this letter to Lincoln and the way in which he responds to the death of their son tells a lot about the relationship between Mary Todd and Lincoln, the feelings Lincoln has towards his family, and Mary Todd’s role in the mid-nineteenth
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She stayed at home to take care of the children, while President Lincoln was away in order to support them financially. This is indicated whenever Mary spoke of buying Taddie two new suits. She wrote to her husband, “so I will have to ask for a check of $100, which will soon be made use of, for these articles” (pg. 3). This made a clear understanding that he is the provider of the family. However, he lacked the emotional support that the family needed. Mary wrote, “I had one of my severe attacks, if it had not been for Lizzie Keckley, I do not know what I should have done. Some of these periods, will launch me away” (pg. 2). In those two sentences, Mary Todd made it clear that Lincoln was not there for her through her tribulations. During the times that she needed him the most, Mary was forced to take comfort in someone other than her …show more content…
This letter was written and kept in Mary Todd’s own handwriting. One article states, “The Common Core education standards dictate that cursive will no longer be taught in elementary schools” (Boone, John.). It is feared that by ending the teaching of cursive in schools, young individuals will lose their ability to interpret important historical resources such as journals, historical documents such as the Constitution, or, in this case, historical letters such as Mary Todd’s. Primary documents, cursive or not, provide one with first-hand knowledge of what was happening during the era in which it was created. This first-hand knowledge can be vital to the understanding of any given time period. Mary’s letter is a perfect example of why it is important to study historical
She stayed at home to take care of the children, while President Lincoln was away in order to support them financially. This is indicated whenever Mary spoke of buying Taddie two new suits. She wrote to her husband, “so I will have to ask for a check of $100, which will soon be made use of, for these articles” (pg. 3). This made a clear understanding that he is the provider of the family. However, he lacked the emotional support that the family needed. Mary wrote, “I had one of my severe attacks, if it had not been for Lizzie Keckley, I do not know what I should have done. Some of these periods, will launch me away” (pg. 2). In those two sentences, Mary Todd made it clear that Lincoln was not there for her through her tribulations. During the times that she needed him the most, Mary was forced to take comfort in someone other than her …show more content…
This letter was written and kept in Mary Todd’s own handwriting. One article states, “The Common Core education standards dictate that cursive will no longer be taught in elementary schools” (Boone, John.). It is feared that by ending the teaching of cursive in schools, young individuals will lose their ability to interpret important historical resources such as journals, historical documents such as the Constitution, or, in this case, historical letters such as Mary Todd’s. Primary documents, cursive or not, provide one with first-hand knowledge of what was happening during the era in which it was created. This first-hand knowledge can be vital to the understanding of any given time period. Mary’s letter is a perfect example of why it is important to study historical