For Civil War women in the 1860s it was predictable wisdom that a “woman’s place is in the home,” but the Civil War challenged this view. There were many women who played an important role in the Civil War. It is normal to think the Civil War was a man’s fight. However during the war, many women challenged the role of the women and took on different roles. While the men marched off to war, the women had to work hard and try to provide for their families. Women became doctors, spies, nurses, couriers, and even soldiers. Both the Union and Confederate armies did not allow the enlistment of women. The women soldiers assumed the role of the man. By disguising themselves as a man, they took up arms and charged into battle (Blanton, 1993, p. 1). It is estimated that about four hundred women disguised their selves to be men and fight in the war (Righthand, 2011). Each of these women had their own reasons to fight, some did it for the salary to support their families, others for the loyalty to the cause, and some just for the excitement. In the words of Sarah Edmonds Seelye, also known as Franklin Flint Thompson of the 2nd Michigan Infantry: I could only thank God that I was free and could go forward and work, and I was not obliged to stay at home and weep. Seelye holds the honor of being the only woman to receive a veteran 's pension after the war (as cited in Smith, 2014 para. 4). At the beginning of the war, there few trained nurses in the civilian life and none in the
The Civil War were extremely affected the lives of American women. Many handful are disguised as men and jointed the fight, over served aspies and nurses. Many women took the role at home after their husband , brother, and father, were at the war. Thousands of women were enslaved began transition to freedom, beginning new lives surrounded by the war.
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.
Many people question if women went into the war because of patriotism or because they lacked other opportunities. Women responded to the call differently depending on age, race, class, marital status, and number of children. They switch from lower-paying female jobs to higher-paying factory jobs. While patriotism influenced women,
It is not known how many women actually participated in battle; however, the number seems to be higher than anyone expected. These women played the role of the warrior and literally gave up their gender to fight. One such case is Amy Clark. She dressed like a man to serve in the Confederate army with her husband. After his death, she continued her service and was wounded and captured by the Union. Once the North discovered her true identity, they released her back into the Southern army and insisted that she wear a dress. Some say that Amy Clark may have worn lieutenant's bars on her uniform. Another women who dressed as a man to fight was Malenda Blalock, who posed as a brother to her husband. Another southern female warrior was Madame
As she could not be near the actual battlefield and with the other nurses that were
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
When the American Civil War began on April 12th, 1861, over 3 million Union and Confederate soldiers prepared for battle. Men from all over America were called upon to support their side in the confrontation. While their battles are well documented and historically analyzed for over a hundred years, there is one aspect, one dark spot missing in the picture: the role of women in the American Civil War. From staying at home to take care of the children to disguising themselves as men to fight on the battlefield, women contributed in many ways to the war effort on both sides. Though very few women are recognized for their vital contributions, even fewer are
If the women’s secret had been discovered, the soldiers did not do much except send the women back home. Some women treated soldiers who were wounded or sick coming from the battlefield, and they supplied the men with the equipment and other necessities they would need on the field. During the Civil War, Columbus, Mississippi became a well-known hospital town, taking in hundreds of the wounded. Women offered to become spies for the Confederacy to help the military gain useful information about the opposing side, and men did not commonly consider women, such as Rose O’Neal Greenhow capable of doing acts such as spying. Some Southern Democratically-involved women turned their noses from the Northern women in disgust, thinking it unbecoming to be around Republicans, and they continued this attitude for quite some time. But not all Southern women wanted the war, and they did not want to be rude to the “enemy”. One woman, Sarah Morgan, who had been treated well by the enemy said, “Fine, noble-looking men they were. One cannot help but admire such foes! . . .” In these cases where the enemy showed such acts of kindness, many Southern women felt respect and sympathy towards the Union soldiers. Though many of these opportunities for new roles for women opened up during the war, most women stayed at home and took care of their house and children.
The Civil War altogether influenced the lives of American ladies. A modest bunch camouflaged themselves as men and joined the battle. Others served as spies and nurses. Numerous more tackled new parts at home after their spouses, siblings, and fathers reacted to the invitation to battle. A large number of oppressed ladies started the move to flexibility, starting new lives in the midst of the revulsions of war. By war's end, the amazing loss of life of roughly 620,000 officers had left endless ladies in grieving. Contrasted with past eras, American ladies in general had enhanced their instructive standing, secured extra lawful rights, and procured more noteworthy access to made merchandise by the mid-1800s. Ladies had taken part conspicuously
During the Civil War, women took a unique role in America,by essentially taking the place of the men who went to war. When the men left, home life changed completely. Women now had to do many of the things that the men would have taken care of around the house, as well as the things that the women would normally do themselves. During the war, however, some women got more of a taste for life outside the home than others. They had to reconfigure themselves in the world and find where they belonged without the aid of men.
“There were just shy of 400 documented cases of women who served as soldiers during the Civil War, according to the records of the Sanitary Commission.” (Brown, 2012)
During the Civil war,women played very important parts. 400 women and more disguised themselves as men and fought in the Union and Confederate armies. A good amount of women served as spies and nurses. A handful of them disguised themselves as men and joined the war. The women at home took on the husband, brother, and father roles. In the past generations, women improved their educational standing, acquired greater access to manufactured goods, and secured additional legal rights by the mid-1800s. A majority of American women led daily lives that was focused mainly on their families, households, gardens, and crops. There was about 250 female Civil War soldiers that have been documented by historians and there was probably more. Women took
During the Civil War, women found themselves in a world outside of their homes. While their fathers, husbands, and brothers fought for what they believed in, women longed to play vital roles while being faced with different opportunities and trials. Issues that women put up with during times of war were hardships on the home front, struggles with the economy, and risks associated with women simply being at war. So what was life like for these women? What effect did men in battle have on women to create a sense of obligation for them to help as much as possible? Perhaps it’s the new circumstances that are changing the lives of women drastically to a measure that they did not have options to choose these actions.
Therefore, this paper focuses on the role of females during the Civil War in America. The
Women, regardless of the opposition, were determined to support their armies and their beliefs even on the battlefield. The North and South armies of the country were fighting without proper organization from their respective governments, leading women to volunteer to help their men in whatever manner they could. Contributing to the war effort, women were “responsible for much of the clothing, feeding, and nursing of the soldiers.”18 Women would cook and do the laundry for the soldiers, working in camps away from the battlefield. Other women would provide comfort for the dying soldiers, nurturing the wounded and staying with the men who were dying until their last moments. Their efforts were to offset the fact that the wounded men were separated from their loved ones and “represented domestic tranquility in the midst of armed conflict.”19 Women were not prohibited from nursing injured soldiers because it was “not yet a profession requiring special training…care of the sick and injured was traditionally a female skill”20. Nursing was not the only important contribution that women provided during the war. They also worked within their communities to make up for the men who had left to fight in the war, managing homes and plantations,