Women Demand Democracy : The American Civil War

It was not until after the Civil War that these ideas started to change in America. “Dozens of women’s colleges were founded after the Civil War, and many formerly all-male colleges began admitting women.” (Shi and Tindall, pg. 569) By 1900 nearly one-third of college students were women (pg.569) In the early 1900’s women began to liberate themselves from the home, their social roles, and even some of their character traits. New public venues for female interaction were created, from charitable associations to women’s clubs. The increase of female interaction brought a means to change the lack of female influence in government. In 1869 the National Woman Suffrage Association was founded by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, which not only campaigned for woman suffrage, but also for new laws to make an abused wife get a divorce easier and for female workers to get higher pay (pg. 712-714) It was not until the spring of 1919 after WWI that the Nineteenth Amendment was passed giving women a Constitutional guarantee of their right to vote (pg. 775). Women gaining the right to vote was one of the greatest social developments that happened in America because since women made up forty percent of the electorate they had the capability to change the course of politics (pg.

Women’s rights activists in the late 19th century objected an amendment proposing a “man’s government” in America. The amendment faced strong opposition because suffragists believed there was already excessive executive power given to men. So, these women demanded equal representation and access to the same civil liberties as men had by exposing the gender inequality they met through a series of persuasive tactics demonstrated in the article: “Manhood Suffrage.”

The Civil War altered the lives of women, in both the North and South, just as it altered the nation as a whole. Although it is irrefutable that both the North and the South felt the wrath of the war, the South encountered a unique set of troubles that caused the weight of the war to fall predominantly on Southern women. Attempting to understand the experiences of all Southern women during the Civil War does not come without its challenges. It is impossible to connect the stories and experiences of all Confederate women without generalizing their history. However, by narrowing the analysis to a singular concentration of middle and upper class

When bringing up the Civil War, many people connect it to the amount of deaths that had taken place or the idea that this war had put a stop to slavery. During this time in history, however, women played a significant role in the Civil War. Although it may have seemed that way, women in fact did not just sit idly and let the men go through war alone. In reality, women had multiple jobs to perform during this four year conflict. Women were highly influential throughout the war by the different tasks and jobs they would perform in place of or for the men. With all that new gained independence and responsibilities, women also began to realize their worth. At this point in time, it was one step taken towards respecting women at the same level as

" ‘I want something to do…' ‘Write a book,' Qouth the author of my being. ‘Don't know enough, sir. First live, then write.' ‘Try teaching again,' suggested my mother. ‘No thank you, ma'am, ten years of that is enough.' ‘Take a husband like my Darby, and fulfill your mission,' said sister Joan. ‘Can't afford expensive luxuries, Mrs. Coobiddy.' ‘Go nurse the soldiers,' said my young brother, Tom. ‘I will!' (Harper 14)." This is a dialog of Louisa May Alcott with her relatives. Miss Alcott, like many other African American women, helped serve in the Civil War. During the Civil War, Miss Alcott held a variety of jobs. Mainly working as a writer, she held positions as a nurse, teacher, and volunteered in

“Fighting….maybe for freedom, but probably not” was an indication of just how “revolutionary” the Revolution War era was for women. As America was going through a new estate with the legacy of the revolution, and striving for a new national governance, opportunities arose for both men and women. During the revolutionary era, woman showed achievements in war and education. Although, women developed a new consciousness that increased opportunities to influence public life, it was often limited and ridiculed by women’s traditional roles to society.

Though men always had more rights. Women could not even vote until August eighteenth, 1920. Before the war women were treated unjustly, and still were even after. In the nineteenth century women’s place in society was to be ‘the hostage of the home.’ From an early age females learned to cook, sew, clean, and raise children. Women were seen as weak and puny, and men believed they were of higher worth. This is what was always taught. One year after the Civil War, Frank Moore spoke out. He is the author of Women of the War. He noted, “Other wars have furnished here and there a name, which the world delights to repeat in terms a name, which the world delights to repeat in terms of affection or admiration, of some women who has broken through the rigidity of custom…but our war has furnished hundreds.” (http://www.frankmooreco.com/) Many people believed that women should be able to fight for their beliefs. After the war, they had more rights because of the largest women’s rights convention was held in November 1868. Even after that, women could not vote until 1920. Women fought for over two hundred years for more rights. They were accepted more rights, but gradually. In the 1930s, more women were getting more of a higher education. It took time, but eventually, they were granted to nearly as equal as men in today’s time, but still not completely. Women finally had a say in

Before the Civil War, laws and traditions restricted women’s choices this quote from “breaking tradition” by Kathleen Ernst shows how before the civil war women did not have as much of a role as they do today in the modern world versus the 1800s.

“Before the Civil War, laws and traditions restricted women’s choices.” Women had to live by specific rules that kept them from living their lives before the war took place. They were controlled by men and forced to go by rules that society had set for them. However, after the war, everything changed. They had much more control over their lives.

The war brought enormous changes in American women’s lives. Before the war and for much of the world’s history, Women were seen as second-class citizens. At the start of the struggle women

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

From the pre¬Revolutionary War period to the early twentieth century the role of women in society has far changed. Before women were seen as subordinates and were subjected to the authority of men. Because the man was the dominator, women did not have the right to vote or own property. Women were expected to perform the duties of wives and mothers. However, women were able to rise from the power of men toward the beginning of the Civil War. During the nineteenth century many reform movements such as education brought about changes that paved the way to women’s rights. Furthermore, women started working during the Civil war because they lost their husbands in the war. In 1876 “Women’s Declaration of Independence” was read at the Centennial Exposition

The Civil War fought in 1861- 1865 proved to be a watershed in the history of American women. Women stood strong and fought brave like a men in war, worked in the farm to the factory and took proper care of the injured soldiers. The restriction of travelling alone and speaking in public came to an end in 1864. The female writers and public speakers motivated other women to build up the self -confidence and skills as a weapon to gain the respect they deserve. Susan B. Anthony( a New York state agent for the American Anti-Slavery Movement), and Elizabeth Cady Stanton( leading figure of early women’s right movement) succeeded in forming Women’s Loyal National League to abolish slavery. It collected nearly 400,000 signatures on petition to eliminate slavery and put forward to Congress. The Thirteen Amendment that officially banned slavery was added in the constitution. (Weatherford, 1998, p.

Falling within a timeline of political and social inequality, the American Civil War came at a key time to change the women’s rights landscape. The period leading up to the Civil War, however, did not see a society ready to change, and thus, little work was done towards the women’s rights movement. According to Women’s Civil War History author Mary Elizabeth Massey, women’s rights activists before the Civil War were small in numbers, but opinionated (qtd in Hall 1-2). Dogmatic women’s rights activists were stuck in a world that deemed women as inferior, which created a society ripe for change; change that would make significant headway during the Civil War through the creation of the female-run United States Sanitary Commission. The USSC was a civilian operation unlike any other that aimed to coordinate supplies, relief, and medicine during the Civil War while simultaneously empowering women to leave the domestic sphere. Founded in 1861 and staffed with at least 3,200 paid female nurses and hundreds of additional volunteers, the USSC was, according to the Commission itself, a “grand system of sanitary care and succor,” (Williams 136, The USSC iii). However, societal views did not change overnight as the women of the USSC worked throughout the war and into the years after to erase the gender divide. Overcoming considerable opposition to its creation, the USSC mobilized women through organization and work experience, changing their political standing and public perceptions of

During the Reconstruction Era women were not given the right to vote. They fought while standing along the sidelines, and by attempting to influence other’s votes. Many women began opposing slavery and subsequently fought for the freedom of Blacks. They believed that slavery was not Christian like, and believed that it was against God. The women came from all sides of America, and fought for the same goal. They saw this opportunity as a chance to prove that they can join together for a common cause. They saw the rapid social changes brought by the Civil War as a golden opportunity to expand the Constitutional definitions of freedom and citizenship to include all races and genders.