Answer:
Elizabeth Keckley was writing during a significant time in American history, particularly for African Americans. She was born in 1818 and lived through the period of slavery in the United States, including the Civil War and the period of Reconstruction that followed. Some of the important events that occurred during her lifetime include the Missouri Compromise of 1820, the Mexican-American War, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, and the Reconstruction Amendments to the Constitution (the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments). Keckley was also closely associated with Mary Todd Lincoln, the wife of President Abraham Lincoln, and was present for many significant events during the Lincoln administration, including the President's assassination in 1865.