African American Women During The Civil War

Ida B. Wells, an African-American woman, and feminist, shaped the image of empowerment and citizenship during post-reconstruction times. The essays, books, and newspaper articles she wrote, instigated the dialogue of race struggles between whites and blacks, while her personal narratives, including two diaries, a travel journal, and an autobiography, recorded the personal struggle of a woman to define womanhood during post-emancipation America. The novel, _THEY SAY: IDA B. WELLS AND THE RECONSTRUCTION OF RACE_ , provides an insight into how Ida B. Wells's life paralleled that of

Ida B. Wells (1862-1931) was a newspaper editor and journalist who went on to lead the American anti-lynching crusade. Working closely with both African-American community leaders and American suffragists, Wells worked to raise gender issues within the "Race Question" and race issues within the "Woman Question." Wells was born the daughter of slaves in Holly Springs, Mississippi, on July 16, 1862. During Reconstruction, she was educated at a Missouri Freedman's School, Rust University, and began teaching school at the age of fourteen. In 1884, she moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where she continued to teach while attending Fisk University during summer sessions. In Tennessee, especially, she was appalled at

They never were able to enjoy the luxury of womanhood. As one historian said, "being a women never saved a single female from hard labor, beatings, rape, family separation, and death" (“Women in the Civil War”). Many women had to do the work of their partners. (“Women in the Civil War.”)

As a well-known civil rights activist of her time, Ida B. Wells began her journey to her ultimate ideologies when she was a young girl. Growing up as a slave in Mississippi, her access to education was limited to learning at the Freedman’s Bureau schools. Throughout her life she followed the well paved pathway of her father, the town “race” man, to lawful justice for all citizens, not just African American or white. The contending journalist didn’t lose sight of her family, African American community or her commitment to serving God, but allowed her strong belief in human rights and equality to help her grow stronger as a member of her society.

As of the mid-19th century and on was when African Americans and women were beginning to gain somewhat equal rights or were still disputing them. It is also well know that both have suffered in vastly different manners, but in some cases are very similar in certain struggles. African American men and women had to survive the terrors of the Ku Klux Klan in the southern states, managing life with the Black Code looming over their every move. They were basically fighting for something that a lot of people take for granted, their right to live as a regular citizen. White women on the other hand had their fair share of discrimination as well, when it came to labor, labor organizations and, equal wages.

Sally Louise Tompkins, of Virginia, was 28 years old when the Civil War broke out. At the time Tompkins was an established nurse and philanthropist. She felt

During the American Civil War era, women joined the profession of nursing and began to work in hospitals and on the battlefield, which led to a better and more advanced medical system.African American nurses were often times overlooked but they made numerous contributions in enhancing the medical field through the many corps and organizations created. Nurses and women volunteered for nursing assignments in field hospitals or on hospital transport ships. There were several that volunteered as Union nurses; African American nurses were not included in the majority of women, and their work was overlooked. African American women, such as Susie King Taylor, worked in government hospitals but received no pay for their services. Harriet Tubman was born into slavery but escaped through the Underground Railroad and went back to the South to help other slaves escape. During the war she served as a nurse off of the coast of South Carolina. Her outstanding work as a spy and nurse was rewarded by a higher pension. Sojourner Truth was also born a slave; she became a well-known abolitionist and an advocate for human rights. She worked as a nurse and spent substantial time in a village called

In 1865, when the civil war ended in America and slavery was abolished, the African American population in the South faced many challenges related to their new found freedom. Following the post-Civil War Reconstruction period, white supremacy resurfaced in the South (A&E Television, 2015). Beginning in the early 1900s through 1970 there was a mass exodus of African American 's from the South to the North in America. Although some African American 's were known to have moved from the South as early as 1850, there were two major waves during the 1900s (A&E, 2015; Gates, Jr., 2013). The Great Migration brought new opportunities to African Americans, but not without significant challenges.

African Americans were a very important addition to the American Civil War such as fighting and spying for both the north and the south sides. The American Civil War was a war fought in the United States between the North and South states. The war was from 1861-1865 and was because the South wanted to establish itself as a separate nation. The northern states were called the Union and the southern states were called the Confederate. Between the north and south states were the Border States, which did not belong to either of the sides. The Border States included Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, Kentucky and Missouri. In the north, slavery did not exist but the south was the opposite. In the war, the north and south states fought against each other while the Border States were neutral. Before the war and during the war, African Americans were treated very unfairly compared to white people. This essay will examine how African Americans were treated before, during and after the Civil War.

Ida B. Wells lived during the late 19th and early 20th century, fighting for civil and women’s rights movements. She was a well-established journalist and most famous for her anti-lynching campaigns. Born in 1862 in Holly Springs, Mississippi, Ida lived with her parents until they and her youngest brother were killed by a severe yellow fever epidemic. Left with her five remaining siblings, she took the responsibility of being their primary caregiver. Deciding to move to Memphis with her aunt, Wells became a leading woman figure in the African-American community that she had been living in. “By her late twenties, Wells had become one of the preeminent female journalists of her day, and the editor and co-owner of the Memphis, Tennessee, newspaper Free Speech and Headlight” (page 4). Also launching a strong investigation into lynching and its conquests in the South, Wells found herself to become exiled from there forever.

Ida B. Wells was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Shortly before slavery ended was a dynamic woman who fought for the civil rights of fellow African Americans long before the civil rights movement began. She did so much it is difficult to put it in just one paragraph. She was a super woman before there was a term “super woman”. She was a writer who wrote about the wrong of lynching in the south. She was a suffragist who fought for the right to vote for women of all colors. As a sociologist she wrote about the real causes of lynching. And as a civil rights leader she refused to give up her seat on a train and won $500 for the abuse she took.

Very few recognize that Ida B. Wells was a significant player in women's rights and a key leader during the Civil Rights Movement. Ida was born a slave during the Civil War in 1862 in Mississippi. She grew up subjected to racial prejudices all throughout her early life. When she was around 16 years old, both her parents and one of her siblings died during a Yellow Fever outbreak. After hearing of their parents fate, friends of the Wells family made plans to split up the children in order to take care of

Ida B. Wells was a Journalist who lead a campaign against lynching. Ida was born July 16, 1862 in Holly Springs Mississippi. She grew up as a slave on a plantation along with her mother and father. When Ida grew up she went to school to become a teacher and also took college courses and began to write and edit for a local journal. She is remembered as one of the early leaders in the fight for African-American civil rights. Ida passed away from a kidney disease in Chicago on March 25, 1931. At the age of sixteen Ida’s parents died from yellow fever so, in order to keep her family together Ida went to work as a teacher and took care of her brothers and sisters. She moved to Memphis a couple years later to work for a job making more money. While

Ida B. Wells was a well-established journalist who lived during the late 19th century and the early 20th century. She was born in Mississippi in 1862 to James and Elizabeth Wells, who were enslaved until the Emancipation Proclamation. When Ida was 16, both of her parents and her youngest brother were killed by a yellow fever epidemic. Ida took the responsibility of looking after and providing for her five remaining siblings. Wells moved to Memphis with her aunt where she made many connections with nationally renowned figures focused on the betterment of African-American society. While in Memphis, Wells became a leading figure in the community. She wrote her first article in 1884 and by 1889

It "..demonstrates the primacy of overcoming racial obstacles before addressing the absurdity of female subjugation.."(Weems, 80). Harriet Tubman, also known as the Underground Railroad conductor, risked her life time after time to help free Africana men, women, and children in slavery. She helped reunite families that were separated because of slavery. Ida B. Wells is an anti-lynching crusader. She investigated into the lynching of Africana men that were a threat to the economic system.