Extension Task Exemplar Student Response

Topic: Mary Todd ​

Sources: 1) Behind the Scenes by ​ ​ 2) “Mary Todd Lincoln—Mini Biography” (film) from biography.com 3) “Mary Todd Lincoln—Influence Peddler” (film) from biography.com 4) “Family: Mary Todd Lincoln (1818-1882)” from mrlincolnswhitehouse.org by the Lehrman Institute (not a unit text) http://www.mrlincolnswhitehouse.org/residents-visitors/family/family-mary-todd-lincoln-1818-1882/

How does each source portray the chosen topic? How does this portrayal mirror or differ from the Provide text evidence to support your claims. other sources?

1) Behind the Scenes:

Mrs. Lincoln’s behavior is not really so strange, and she Mr. Lincoln’s White House mentions very strange has reasons for her actions. behavior, such as purchasing 400 pairs of gloves!

“Mrs. Lincoln may have been imprudent, but since her She is also described as “imprudent” by Mr. Lincoln’s intentions were good, she should be judged more kindly White House. than she has been. But the world do not know what her intentions were; they have only been made acquainted with her acts without knowing what feeling guided her actions.” (Preface, paragraph 2)

Mrs. Lincoln loved her husband and supported him. “She was devoted to her husband,” says Mr. Lincoln’s “Now that we have won the position [presidency], I White House (paragraph 15) almost wish it were otherwise. Poor Mr. Lincoln is looking so broken-hearted, so completely worn out, I fear he will not get through the next four years.” (Chapter 10, paragraph 13)

She should be pitied for the hardships she has endured. The film “Mini Biography” calls her a “tragic figure.”

“Mr. . . . never called on the widow, or even so much as wrote a line expressing sympathy for her grief . . .” “ . . . and he never even so much as inquired after their welfare.” (Chapter 12, paragraph 2)

2) Mary Todd Lincoln—Mini Biography (film)

She was a tragic figure, someone to be pitied. Keckley’s memoir suggests she should be pitied, too. “Mary Todd Lincoln was remembered for complete tragedy” (introduction to film)

Grade 7: Behind the Scenes

Once she moved into the White House, she felt lack of Keckley’s memoir does not discuss this possible origin of support from people in both the north and the south: people’s feelings toward Mrs. Lincoln. “The odds were stacked against her.” “She was a member of the southern aristocracy married to the union president.” She suffered a “lack of support from Washington aristocracy.”

Her spending on furnishings and clothes “alienated her Keckley seems to suggest that Mrs. Lincoln simply liked from people in Washington and common people who nice things, and especially clothes. were suffering from the war.”

After the , “her mental state started to Her mental instability is only hinted at by Keckley, in the decline. She was institutionalized. She actually tried to final chapters and Appendix. commit suicide.” Mr. Lincoln’s White House also discusses her mental health issues.

3) Mary Todd Lincoln—Influence Peddler

“To pay the bills, she accepted bribes to whisper in her Mrs. Lincoln’s practice of accepting bribes is suggested husband’s ear about who should receive government by Mr. Lincoln’s White House. appointments.” “She was the flip side of Honest .” Keckley’s memoir does not focus on those actions.

4) Mr. Lincoln’s White House

Mrs. Lincoln became the subject of gossip. She was Keckley referred to Mrs. Lincoln as “imprudent” also. considered “imprudent.” She also said that Mrs. Lincoln “by her own acts, forced “Recent First Ladies had been virtually invisible in herself into notoriety. She stepped beyond the formal Washington. Mary Todd Lincoln would not be invisible – lines which hedge about a private life, and invited public and thus became the subject of vicious gossip which her criticism.” own imprudent behavior encouraged.”

She was hated by southerners and northerners alike. The film “Mini Biography” mentions that “the odds were “Mrs. Lincoln was caught between northern prejudice of stacked against her,” because both northerners and her southern background and southern prejudice of her southerners mistrusted her. northern sympathies.” (paragraph 2)

Her spending was criticized. The film “Mini Biography” mentions that her spending Mrs. Lincoln’s biographer Catherine Clinton wrote, “The alienated people, especially those who were suffering in rumored costs of her attire became the subject of the war. Washington gossip and prompted bitter critiques by journalists, especially as Union soldiers fell by the thousands, maimed and wounded, dying in camp and on

Grade 7: Behind the Scenes

the battlefield.” (paragraph 3) [Catherine Clinton, “Wife Versus Widow: Clashing Perspectives on Mary Lincoln’s Legacy,” Journal of the Association, Winter 2007, p. 15.]

She could not be trusted with information. “Mary’s questionable judgment and trust in friends, The film “Influence Peddler” mentions that she actually associates, and employees led to particular took bribes to help her pay her bills. embarrassment of the President. Her lack of discretion extended to both action and comment. She was a source of information for anyone who could manage to obtain her confidence. Seekers of favors and offices often sought her out when they could not influence her husband.”

She suffered from mental illness.” (paragraph 9)

How do the different perspectives build a more complete understanding of the person, event, or idea? Include evidence and interpretations.

Each of the sources provides different details of Mrs. Lincoln’s life:

The memoir Behind the Scenes is the most sympathetic of the sources as it attempts to describe a person who ​ ​ suffered loss after loss (son, and then husband) and instead of being pitied was humiliated for small offences, like her overspending.

The film “Mary Todd Lincoln—Mini Biography” paints a very tragic picture of a woman who was shunned by everyone, initially because of her southern upbringing and later because her spending was considered inappropriate. Later in her life it became clear that she was mentally ill and needed to be hospitalized. The film “Mary Todd Lincoln—Influence Peddler” discusses the first lady’s overspending, and also adds that she took bribes in order to help pay her debts. This is the most negative piece of information we receive about Mrs. Lincoln, and it is only alluded to by Keckley and by “Mr. Lincoln’s White House.”

The informational article “Mr. Lincoln’s White House” offers many details not included in any of the other texts, like the 400 pairs of gloves she purchased in a very short period of time, an act which we would all agree is crazy! The article also includes quotations from a variety of other sources, including biographies. Many of the details help to paint a negative picture of a woman whose behavior was erratic at best. It does not paint a very attractive picture of the first lady.

Together, these texts provide a more complete view of Mrs. Lincoln than any single one of them was able to achieve on its own. It is interesting to note that the most sympathetic view—the one put forward by Keckley—is the primary source account written by someone who actually knew Mrs. Lincoln well.

How does the evidence or interpretations affect reader understanding?

Grade 7: Behind the Scenes

There seems to be a big difference between the primary source accounting and the secondary ones (films and informational article), forcing the reader to decide whether to agree with Mrs. Lincoln’s friend who knew her well, or various researchers, who did not know her well and had to rely on the accounts of other people. In choosing who to believe, the reader must also take into consideration each writer’s purpose. One of Keckley’s stated purposes was to defend herself by defending Mrs. Lincoln: “To defend myself I must defend the lady that I have served. The world have judged Mrs. Lincoln by the facts which float upon the surface, and through her have partially judged me, and the only way to convince them that wrong was not meditated is to explain the motives that actuated us” (Scenes, Preface, paragraph 2). Therefore, readers must ask themselves if Keckley’s profile of Mrs. Lincoln might exclude facts not consistent with that purpose. On the other hand, Keckley was probably not in a position to know everything that took place behind closed doors at the White House.

Grade 7: Behind the Scenes