Little Women and the Civil War.
The Civil War served as much more than the fight for civil economies and a struggle to end slavery. What lied in the foreground of the civil war are images of unions and confederate soldiers rummaging through forest of the American South and thoughts of slaves gaining their long sought freedom.
However most people do not consider the lingering backdrop of the war. That would be the effects the war would have on the changing gender roles. The new gender roles formed during the civil war before we can determine the gender roles in the socially crucial time in American History, first we should define what is meant by “gender”. Context of gender is more than just physical being. Gender can be considered more abstract. This being said gender should be considered a preconceived notion about how each of the two sexes should act or interact. An identity is likely exemplified by this following quote from the mid 1800’s. “Their (the Grimke’ sisters’) antislavery speaking tour of the North encountered bitter criticism and resistance from men who charged that they had overstepped the boundaries of their appointed sphere.” (Elizabeth)
In the decades before the civil war it was entirely common for society and women themselves to assign a more subordinate role to women. Women cooked cleaned, nurtured and everything society deemed fit. The civil war however shaped women up to be much more than that. The civil war was not the first time we had seen women
Women during the Antebellum Period we held to high expectations of how they were to behave. They had virtues that they adhered to. After the war broke out, the lives of women changed, and the roles they played significantly impacted the way women were viewed following the war. The Civil War was the result of decades worth of tensions amongst the northern and southern states that had ultimately ended with a war. The states had been feuding over many issues including expansion, slavery, and state’s rights (History.com Staff “American Civil War History”). The Civil war broke out in 1861 and continued until 1865. Prior to the war women stayed home and kept up things at the house, but after the war broke out, women felt they needed to help the
Women in the Civil War were important because they played important roles. They played as nurses, spies, and some even disguised themselves as soldiers. The women could only play one of these roles. For example they can only be either a spy or nurse or a soldier. They can’t be two like a spy and a nurse.
It’s little wonder, then some women, like many men, kept at the change for adventure by volunteering to fight when Civil War has broke out. About 250 female civil war soldier have been recognized through historical and there were probably more. They took every major battle, at the battle of Shiloh in April 1862, for example, there were about six women fought including
The Civil War was fought in the United States of America between the northern and southern states starting in 1861 and ending in 1865. The Civil War was the most significant time in the history of America. The Civil War was to be thought as the shaping of the American individual. The northerners and the southerner’s views on this war were different. The northerners viewed it as a revolutionary war and the southerners viewed it as rebellion. The war started out due to the many differences between the northern and southern states. Between these two regions laid economic, social and political differences, with slavery being the main root of the differences. As the war ended it caused many social and economic changes. One huge change was the abolishment of slavery. Race relation and slave confusions were tearing up the country’s political and social architecture. I believe that the Civil War has changed the way we look at this world today because once the Civil War came to an end it abolished slavery.
Women in the Confederacy had a great impact on the Civil War. They were thrown into totally different lifestyles--ones that did not include men taking care of the land and other businesses. Women had more control of their lives than ever before. Some took it upon themselves to get involved directly with the war while others just kept the home fires burning. Whatever roles they played, women contributed a multitude of skills to the Civil War effort.
Many people perceive the Civil War as a struggle between good and evil, but it is far more complicated than that. It was a war for the preservation of the union, preservation of a way of life, and the abolition of slavery. The ideals of the North and of the South differed greatly and this led to increased sectional tension. Northerners led a much more industrialized society than Southerners, who’s way of life generally revolved around agriculture. The South’s citizens were also much bigger advocates for slavery during this time period.
When you hear women in the civil war, what do you think? Some people think can that really be, women are not meant for war, all they are needed for is cooking and cleaning and taking care of their children. Well everyone who stereotypes women of that is wrong, because just like men women did have some part of the civil war. Although they may have not fought in the war, they did help with the recovery of the injured men so that they can go back and fight in the war. Being a union nurse is not the only way they were apart of the war, some women did things that went down in history. Just like Harriet Tubman, who made history because she was the creator of the Underground Railroad. She was not the only women who was part of the army and made a
From housewives to educated intellectuals, the roles of women in society have evolved throughout the years. Factors such as wealth, status did affect their roles in the 1700s, but overall every woman had their own place in society. The line between male and female was very distinctive. Substantial events such as the American Revolution, played a big role in modifying gender roles. Women impacted the war in great ways. They proved their capability in more than just being basic housewives. Their heroic activity all the way through the war led them both into an adequate and better off state.
As most of us know the women of the Civil War were a lot different I believe than the
The Civil War was a very significant time in American history. The Civil War was fought between the Confederate States of America and the United States of America. Most people say the Civil War was a war that was fought to end slavery, which it was for most of the population. The Civil War was fought from 1861 to 1865 to determine the survival of the Union. The South wanted slaves to help run there farming plantations. Southern slave owners did not want their way of life threatened or changed, life had been the same for them for generations. Those Americans from the North were considered more progressive and had more influence from other cultures which helped open their eyes to the horrors of slavery. But for many of the men, going to war was a chance to escape boredom and some came because it was the right thing to do (p. 28).
During the Civil war era women still did not have the same rights as men. Men were known to be the dominant figure in society. Men went to work, men contributed towards the war and men had complete control over anything including the women. All women were allowed to do during this time period is to stay at home and be the “Stay at home mom”. But soon men were tired of war and women knew this is when they could take their chance to be out and about.
The United States during the Civil war was a divided nation and filled with gruesome fighting. It hit all parts of the country and brought the fighting right to the back yards of families. While the men of the nation fought the combat war, woman fought different wars in the shadows. Fighting split millions of families up, and it affected woman in multiple ways. Challenges differed for woman from North and South. While some woman’s homes were turned into hospitals, other woman had to learn how to tend to their plantations while their husbands were away fighting. Many women disguised themselves as men to fight in the war because in the 1860s, a woman fighting in the war was not allowed yet. Numerous enslaved
In the 1860’s, American society during the war was of two minds. To fully illustrate the discontent and anger felt for the war, analysis of the personal accounts of women during the Civil War will be introduced in this writing. The personal accounts include diary excerpts and letters, as well as an illustration produced at the time of the war. The wavering of unity on both the South and North due to the separation of family and the destruction of the United States and its individuals set the tone of what was deemed to be an insignificant war. The disengagement of the family unit and the destruction and hardships created due to the wartime circumstances led to discontent with the war, further leading it to be viewed in a negative light by
The American Civil War was a time of great trial and tribulation for the American people. It forced individuals to choose a cause, and many families were torn asunder as they chose opposing sides. As the men marched off to war a small group of women prepared to wage a different kind of warfare. These women became an overlooked but deadly force using espionage and womanly wiles to gather military intelligence for their cause. They used whatever means they had at their disposal to enter into the confidence of men within the opposing side and gain their trust. Women during this period were often overlooked as insignificant and stationary. Women were meant to stay within the home and care for their families needs. However, these extraordinary women rose to answer a more imminent need. These brave women had a profound influence on their cause.
The Civil War opened up many opportunities for women to expand their places of business and, most importantly, expand their significance in society. As a result of the men leaving their homes to fight in the war, the women took on many of the roles that men had to fill in their place. Women became nurses, managers, executives, and even ministers. A journalist even went so far to call the civil war a woman’s war by saying that, “No conflict in history was such a woman’s war as the Civil War”. Women, even though they were not apart of the physical fighting, grew stronger from this war. They proved that they could handle managing businesses while their men were