Most children grow up with the same views and morals as their parents and family; but after education and experience, some people can develop different beliefs. An example of this is Mary Todd Lincoln. Mary was born a Southerner and surrounded by a culture that relied on slavery, but she came to believe strongly in freedom for the slaves. This was reinforced after she became the wife of Abraham Lincoln. Even though many Northerners did not trust her—the wife of the president—because she was from the South, Mary Todd Lincoln’s beliefs had a large impact on the Civil War. Unfortunately, the death of her husband eventually made Mary stop fighting for equality.

Mary Ann Todd didn’t start out as a crusader for slaves’ rights, but she married a man who would become a great leader and who also shared her views. On December 13, 1818 Mary Ann Todd was born in Lexington, Kentucky, to Robert S. Todd and his wife, Eliza Parker Todd. Kentucky was a Southern state and the Todd family was part of the aristocracy of Lexington, but Mary would eventually question her family’s views of slavery. Mary’s mother died when Mary was only seven years old. Her father remarried less than a year later, but she did not get along well with her stepmother. Mary excelled in school and learned to speak French fluently. When Mary was 21 years old she and her older sister moved to Springfield, Illinois, where she met Abraham Lincoln. They fell in love with each other despite Abraham’s humble origins and Mary’s upper-class upbringing. One of the causes that Abraham and Mary had in common was their view against slavery. On November 4, 1842, Mary Ann Todd became Mary Todd Lincoln when she married Abraham Lincoln. On their wedding day Abraham gave Mary a ring with the words “Love is Eternal” engraved in it (Norton 1).

Soon the Lincolns became a prominent couple in Illinois as Lincoln advanced in law practice. In 1844 the Lincolns moved into their new house in Springfield and soon had four children: Robert, Edward, William, and Thomas. Mary was a very loving and caring mother to her children, and she was devoted to her family. Meanwhile, Abraham was continuing to advance in his career and moving into politics. In 1846 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Mary was happy for Abraham, but missed him when he was away in Washington so much. When Abraham’s term ended in 1850, Mary was happy that he could help care for their family together in Illinois. But in 1856 Abraham gained support for the Republican Vice-Presidential nomination, and in 1858 he received the Republican nomination for President. He was elected the President over three other candidates. On March 4, 1869, Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated and the Lincolns moved to Washington D.C.

Mary was excited about being First Lady and eager to help her husband, but she was not welcomed by politicians in Washington with open arms. Mary supported her husband whenever she could and made speeches praising his Presidency, but her support was not received well by either Southerners or Northerners. Mary had relatives who were part of the Confederacy and who were fighting on the Southern side of the war. Because of this, many Northern people believed that she was really on the Southern side. Some rumors even said that she was secretly helping the South, and she was suspected of treason. In addition, Southerners scorned her as a traitor to her birth because of her outspoken support of her husband and the North. So Mary was mistrusted by both sides of the war.

Throughout all of the controversy, she still maintained her strong feelings against slavery. Mary received so many hate letters from Northerners and Southerners that she had to have her mail screened for insulting letters. There were also many attempts on her life. She was angry about this but devoted herself to public acts of support for the Northern cause. She brought flowers and wrote letters to injured soldiers and one Christmas raised more than $1,000 for a hospital that cared for wounded soldiers (Norton 1). Mary also supported and donated money to foundations that helped former slaves who had come from the South looking for a new life. Her dedication to the Northern side was clear from her actions.

But soon Mary stopped helping slaves because of a tragedy that broke her heart. On April 14, 1865, Mary and her husband attended the performance Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theatre. While they watched the performance, John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham (Norton 1). Mary was holding her husband’s hand when he was shot, and was in shock for a moment before she had realized what had happened. She let go of his hand and screamed. Mary became morbid about her husband’s death and she withdrew from public scrutiny. She was so distraught that she didn’t even attend any of Abraham’s many funerals.

For the rest of her life Mary moved around aimlessly. She was poor because she did not have a job. When Mary’s youngest son, Tad, died suddenly she was pushed into an even deeper state of depression. She was also declared insane by a jury of 12 men. They said that the cause and duration of the disease was unknown. In 1880 Mary went to live with her sister, finally settling down after a lifetime of adventures. Mary would spend the last years of her life in her sister’s house, no longer helping former slaves or trying to make the world a better place. She stayed in her own shadowy room of her sister’s house until she died on July 16, 1882. She was 63 years old. It is believed that she died of a stroke, but the doctor wrote “paralysis” on her death certificate. Mary was buried next to her husband in the Lincoln Tomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield. She was still wearing the ring that Abraham had given to her all of those years ago with the words “Love is Eternal” engraved in it (Norton 1).

Although she was criticized excessively for being born in the South and not following her birthright, Mary didn’t give up. She ignored the letters that she got from people who hated her. This showed that she wouldn’t let other people’s criticism undermine her beliefs. She brought flowers to soldiers, showing how she appreciated their efforts to end slavery. She made a large impact on the Civil War by doing what she believed was right. And she never faltered until the day her husband died.

Although she was a child of the South and her relatives were part of the Confederacy, through education, experience and her relationship with her husband, Mary came to believe in the war to free the slaves. She kept a strong head, did what she thought was right and never faltered in her convictions.

I hope that you enjoyed reading my really, really boring essay that I did for school – I’ll let you know what grade I got once I get it back. But that be for another few weeks, so just wait.