Dickinson wrote and sent the poem “Whose cheek is this?” to her friend and sister-in-law Sue sometime within the 1850s. Because it is unclear exactly when the poem was written, it is therefore difficult to ascertain whether one historical event influenced the poem’s production over another. Many significant national and world events took place between 1850 and 1860. For example, in 1851 the Christiana Riot took place in Pennsylvania. In 1854, Britain and France entered the Crimean War against Russia. Pre-Civil War unrest began in Kansas on November 21, 1855, and on March 6, 1857, the Dred Scott Decision declared that black individuals could not be American citizens. December 2, 1859 marked the hanging execution of abolitionist John Brown (McNamara, Robert. "Timeline from 1850 to 1860." ThoughtCo., 2021). There were certainly events developing or occurring that could have inspired Dickinson’s poem focusing on the fading of life into death.

One can also assess this text through the historical lens of patriarchy. Leading up to the 1850s when Dickinson’s poem first appeared, women’s rights were gradually increasing: “By the early 1800s, women were ready to branch out from their families and make an impression on the world. Numerous women’s organizations were formed, some social, but many bound on doing social work” (Donnaway, Laura.