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Women In The Civil War

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The Civil War was a conflict fought between the North and the South in the United State over the abolition of slavery. More than three and a half and four million men served in the militaries for both sides and more than six hundred thousand died in the conflict. However, some see this war as “the white men’s war” because many white men from north and south fought to display their manhood and for what they believe. They shaped how a man should view their own masculinity and how to prove their manhood by combat. This conflict not only changed many African American lives, it also revolutionize how females view their gender role, in a given culture, masculine and feminine is closely related to men and women, but since many men went to fight in …show more content…

Northern men believe that being successful and earning wealth were the way to prove their “manhood” to the society in the north. Many northern men were proud of their work and would work hard to become successful. Unlike the south, northern men were all equal, no matter what class you belong to and all northern men have the right to vote did not require to own land to vote like the south. The elite “Patricians” class look down at the working class and middle class, they believe that those classes were uneducated and rude. The elite views themselves as “gentlemen”, and if a man has to work with their hand or work under someone else then it would be ungentlemanlike. However, the working class from the north had a very different view of their “manhood” than the elite class. They see themselves as the backbone of the country and help to build a stronger country. They believe by doing honest work and working hard will lead them to success which is the definition of being a “man”. In addition, the ability to pass on their success and fortune to their son will show that they are able to complete the American dream. There was a new class being created during the Civil War in the north and it was the middle class. The middle-class male focuses more on their works and normally employ as white collar jobs. One interesting thing about the middle-class household is that the women are in charge, unlike the …show more content…

They want to take part in the war, get involve, and do anything they can to improve their future. However, racism was still high on the Union side, many African American enlisted in the army were assigned to building duty and cooking duty. The Army also paid them much less than white soldiers. The first colored regiment was created in Michigan but they had to wait two years and four months before they could see any combat, because how controversial it was to assemble an all-black regiment and President Lincoln was trying to save the Union and not to free slaves. But many African Americans were still eager to fight for what they believe. When the U.S. War department organizes a black regiment, blacks already proved their effectiveness in battle. “By this time, there had been a dramatic change in the North’s attitude toward black soldiers… Black troops had also proved their mettle at Fort Wagner and in several other engagements, causing many white soldiers, like Lt. John Buchanan, to change their perception of black soldiers.” (Smith, 506) Even though blacks fought well during the Civil War, and have changed many perceptions of black. Racism was still among both north and south after the war ended, according to Kevin Hardwick’s “Your Old Father Abe Lincoln Is Dead and Damned”, white men got into an argument with a black soldier because the black soldier did not

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