The Civil War: Changing Roles of African Americans and Women

The Civil War was caused by the economics of slavery and the political control of that system, specifically being states’ rights on the federal powers of the government, the territorial expansion of the united states that led to the division of the two sides, and the election of President Abraham Lincoln which was the final event that sent the nation to war.

Another major cause of the Civil War was representation in the government. The North and South both wanted the power to pass laws that would benefit their section. The more states that became "free" or "slave" meant more votes, both in the House, Senate, and Electoral College for that section. The issue of

One of the key factor contributing to the Civil War was States Rights. This refers to the struggle between federal government and individual states over political power. One side argued for greater state’s rights and those arguing felt that the Federal Government needed to have more control over states. The states felt they should have the right to decide if they were willing to accept certain federal acts. Meaning that states had the right to rule federal acts unconstitutional. The federal government denied states this right. When nullification would not work and states felts that they were no longer respected, they moved towards secession from the Union. The southern people were viewed as democratic and depended slaves for the plantations, they were devoted to agriculture and shipped cotton up north and favored low tariffs.

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.

The Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1877, was mainly caused by the diverging society between the North and the South. The North and the South had different goals. There were many factors that led to the war and the chief ones were political and economic differences between the North and the South. The North’s aggression to control the South had led to the point where it was intolerable. The issue on slavery was one of the causes of the Civil War. Slavery and slave trades had become a big part of the South’s economy. The slaves were needed to work on plantations which helped the South prospered. During the 19th Century, the North worked hard on abolishing slavery, which they thought was a disgrace to the Union.

One of the social aspects during the time 1861-1865 revolved around the new roles given to women. While the hundreds of thousands of men went to war, women were left to manage their new roles as head of the household. What this means is that they now had to undertake the jobs the men would usually do. Some of these new roles included running farms and stores, and working in government, factories, and offices while managing their own households, as well. The war also permitted women to enter former male-orientated professions such as teaching, civil service, and nursing, due to the shortage of men (Keene, 392). The nursing profession practically became completely female-orientated after around 30 years, despite the disapproval of many male doctors

In the paragraph it says that” Thousands of women in the North and South joined volunteer brigades and signed up to work as nurses. It was the first time in American history that women played a significant role in a war effort. By the end of the war, these experiences had expanded many Americans’ definitions of “true womanhood (www.history.com).” During the civil war more women wanted to take more action in the war. There was more than 400 women who dressed like guys so they can fight in the war and get more involved. “Nearly 20,000 women worked more directly for the Union war effort. Working-class white women and free and enslaved African-American women worked as laundresses, cooks and “matrons,” and some 3,000 middle-class white women worked as nurses.” Army nurses had to travel from hospital to hospital just to heal the men and women who fought in the civil war. “ During the Civil War, women especially faced a host of new duties and responsibilities. “For the most part, these new roles applied the ideals of Victorian domesticity to “useful and patriotic ends.” However, these wartime contributions did help expand many women’s ideas about what their “proper place” should be.” The civil war gave the women more freedom after the 400 and more women dressed as guys to fight. If we didn’t

The Civil War can barely be called “humane”, but it was key to bringing out the human side in many people. Women, children, and African Americans were among these people who changed the ways of society at that time.

In the Confederacy, African Americans also served, but usually in forced labor. Because the South refused to arm blacks, they used them to build fortifications and perform camp duties.On March 13, 1865, legislation was finally passed that would free black slaves if they enlisted in the Confederate Army, although they had to have consent from their masters. Only a handful of black soldiers, probably less than 50, enlisted because of this legislation and were still in training when the war ended.

One event that led to the civil war was the opposing views on slavery. Most people in the North thought that slavery was bad and they wanted to make it illegal to own slaves. However, the South's economy revolved around slaves therefore they didn't want to get rid of their slaves. These views on slavery caused many conflicts between the two sides.

One factor that led to the Civil War was that the North was so different from the South. In 1860, the North’s population was largely white, only two percent were African American. In comparison, thirty-five percent of the South’s population was African American. This was advantageous considering most of the South’s labor force was dependant on slaves, while the North’s labor force used paid

The duties and responsibility of nurses at that time was different from the present. Rebecca Usher of Maine has explained that women nurses were not given the medical assistance job rather they were made focused on sanitation of wounded soldiers. Their job is to wash the clothes of ill soldiers, make food for them, distributing for them and some get the chance of helping the soldiers by reading and writing letters to their family. A woman from the rich family was only able to get the chance to be nurses at that time because they were accessed with the people of the hospital. In comparison to male nurses, women nurses were given low-level jobs. Women were given less chance than men. Only a few male from middle-class and upper-class family could get a job. Among these middle class also women close to the superintendent were able to get a job. In the introduction on pg. iv paragraph second it is mention that Dix (superintendent of woman nurses) kept the crop outside of the military chain of command, personal management style and traveled extensively. She could be considered as rude women of that time. As being women oneself, she should understand the feeling of other women. Dix showed a behavior like a rude dictatorship to other

Verifiably, reading material has taught that inconsistency amongst northern and southern economies brought on the Civil War. The mechanical unrest in the North, amid the initial couple of many years of the nineteenth century, realized a machine age economy that depended on pay workers, not slaves In the meantime, the hotter Southern states kept on depending on slaves for their cultivating economy and cotton generation. Southerners made colossal benefits from cotton and slaves and battled a war to look after them.

The Civil War was one of the most controversial periods in American history. As a result of the controversy, there have been many theories that explain the cause of the war. Most theories state the causes of this conflict arose from geographic, economic, political, and even social differences. Tensions over slavery had been building for decades, and every time a new state in the West was added, there was an extremely tense debate over whether or not slavery would be permitted in the new state. Americans did not believe that the United States could remain half slave free and half permit slavery.

In order to understand why the North won the civil war it is helpful to understand the beginnings of the conflict. Economic and social differences between the North and the South, states' rights verses federal rights, the fight between the proponents of slavery and abolitionists, and the election of Abraham Lincoln all contributed to the Civil War. However, all of these causes can trace their roots in the institution of slavery. The major reason the southern states succeed was to maintain slavery, the conflict over western lands was about slavery, Lincoln couldn't maintain the union because of slavery, and the production of cotton demanded slavery. Ultimately, though both sides claimed to want to achieve their objectives peacefully, the South viewed the North as a threat to its way of life, while the North preferred war rather than let the nation perish (Roark et al., 2009).