Belle Boyd : Confederate Spy

Male and female spies were essential sources of information during the Civil War. The best spies were people you would never suspect. Spies were brave, faceless and they knew the environment very well. Their presence was incredibly excepted. Whether they dressed as men and joined the army, posed as mindless slaves, or just kept their ears opens in collective circles, spies provided necessary information. It was even a woman spy who provided Union battle plans to Confederate Army, which allowed them to win the First Battle of Manassass (First Bull Run). Throughout history, men have been spies and the American Civil War was no exception. The finest spies are people you would never suspect. Spencer Kellogg Brown, George Curtis and Philip

Ida Wells-Barnett was born on July 16. 1862 in Holly Springs, Mississippi, just months before her plantation slave parents were declared free when the Emancipation Proclamation took effect on January 1st, 1863. Although all slaves in the South were freed, all blacks were met with prejudice in every way possible. Because of the deeply rooted racism and dehumanization of blacks in the “new South”, and the lynching’s of some of her closest friends, Wells-Barnett was compelled to write and publish Southern Horrors in 1892. This was written to educate and enlighten the public of the countless lynching’s taking place and other acts of injustice occurring throughout the south against blacks. Wells-Barnett sought to reveal the true, root cause of

In her early life she was a beautiful girl with long dark curls and flashy eyes. Many admirers came to the plantation just to enjoy the sunshine of her smile. She met James Long at her house when he came to see a sick soldier and when he met her he could not take his eyes off of her. Jane Wilkinson (maiden name) had lived the life of sheltered young daughter of well-to-do Souther parents. Her birthday was in Clark County, Maryland, in 1798.Born in a house called “the House of Trueman’s

The romanticized version of the Civil War creates a picture of the North versus the South with the North imposing on the South. However, after reading “The Making of a Confederate” by William L. Barney, one can see that subdivisions existed before the war was declared. The documents analyzed by Barney primarily focus on the experiences of Walter Lenoir, a southern confederate and a member of the planter elite. His experiences tell a vivid story of a passionate and strongly opinioned participant of the Civil War as well as demonstrate a noticeably different view involving his reasoning when choosing a side. Between analyzing this fantastic piece of literature and other resourceful documents from “Voices of Freedom” by Eric Foner, one

I learned how Ida B. Wells-Barnett started her life. Born as a slave, orphaned at 16, she became a teacher to support her surviving brothers and sisters. With the difficult circumstances brought upon her, it took an amazing amount of determination for her to fight for black civil rights and women’s rights in the 19th century. In a more civilized age, it’s harder to witness the courage she represented for the disadvantaged.

In “Letters of a Civil War Nurse”, written in 1863, Cornelia Hancock’s account of the Civil War gives readers an account of the suffering and hardship of soldiers through the point of view of an Union nurse. This document written by Cornelia Hancock is an account as a nurse who went through the Battle of Gettysburg and the after effects. Through a series of letters written to her loved ones, Cornelia wrote what nurses went through during the times of war. At the time women were expected to be good wives; with Cornelia Hancock’s effort she was able to help soldiers and contribute to the idea that women are capable of much more than being good wives; women can be apart of war. With her background as a Quaker and her family history, Cornelia Hancock was able to contribute greatly to the war effort even though she was originally denied to becoming an union nurse.

During the Civil War, Belle Boyd played an important role as a spy and because of this she as well became famous. On Independence Day in the year 1861 Belle shot an abominable Union officer who swore at her mother. Belle’s home was instantly swarmed by roguish Union soldiers threatening to burn down the house. While the soldiers shouted, and called Belle names she faked some tears and begged for them to send for the officer who resigned at headquarters. Belle was inexorable in her pleading for the officer. The officer dashed into the house to investigate the scene. Taking a look around the officer declared it in action of self-defense. This got the mob to back down, this was also the day that Belle became a spy. She began to flirt with the

With her father being a wealthy business person who was technically considered the first African American millionaire in the south, Mary was taught about being a hard worker, motivated, and the importance and value of a good education at an early age. When she was six years old, her parents sent her to the Antioch College Model School in Yellow Springs, Ohio. She later went on to attend Oberlin College in Ohio. And in 1884, she became one of the first African-American women to earn a college degree. Four years later she earned her master's degree in education.

Mirabeau B. Lamar was born in 1798 near Louisville, Jefferson County, Georgia. Lamar grew up at Fairfield, which is also his father's plantation near Milledgeville, Georgia. He had three brothers and five sisters. In order to educate himself, Lamar read books. Lamar was accepted into Princeton University, although he did not attend.

“I thank God that I can say on my death bed that I am a virtuous woman” (Belle Boyd). Isabelle Boyd was a very brave woman during the Civil War which was from 1861 to 1865 and was the bloodiest battle fought on American soil. She was born on May 4, 1844 in Martinsburg, Virginia and died on June 11, 1900 in Kilbourn, Wisconsin. Belle Boyd was very influential to the Civil War because she was a spy for the confederacy, a messenger to Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson, and fought when she needed to, even if her life was threatened. Life as a spy

n recent years, historians (including this reviewer) have examined the complex reactions of Confederate women to the Civil War with an emphasis on ambivalence, class conflict, and new gender roles. There has also been an emphasis on disaffection from the Confederacy and sometimes from men in general. Much of this scholarship has attempted to revise and even displace the stock contemporary and historical images of Confederate women as fervent and unwavering patriots willing to make any sacrifice for their beloved cause. Perhaps the interpretative pendulum has swung a bit far, and the publication of Ellen Renshaw House 's diary should remind us that the traditional picture of fire-breathing and unreconstructed "secesh females" had some basis in fact.

Jane Arminda Delano was born during the Civil War. Born in 1862 in Montour Falls, New York to George and Mary Ann Delano. Her father went to fight in the civil war and was killed during the civil war march. Jane Delano grew up without a father and never met him. She had two older sisters. Mother remarried and she gained 4 step sisters. During her time at Cook Academy, where she spent 2 years studying and teaching district school, she wanted to become a nurse.

Dignity in Southern Society in A Lesson Before Dying, Autobiography of Jane Pittman, and Of Love and Dust

Identifying Information: Rosa Lee is a feisty African American female who grew up poor on the fringes of a Capitol Hill neighborhood. Her parents were sharecroppers who had migrated to the city. Rosa Lee had eight children, six boys and two girls, over an 11 year stretch; she was 14 years old when she had her first born. While pregnant with her first child, Rosa Lee dropped out of school without having learned to read. At age 16, Rosa Lee got married; the marriage only lasted a few months. She supported her family by waitressing in

Born in 1797, Isabella Baumfree was an African-American slave who was sold into a harsh life. Physically strong, she was worked just as much as men on the field and her masters did not hesitate to beat and rape her. By the time her teens had ended, she had already borne several children (Gates et al. 176). When she earned her freedom in 1826, she took on the new identity of Sojourner Truth, named so due to her seeking the truth from God and fighting for women’s rights. Her experiences were used at a women’s