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Women in Civil War

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Women, Slaves, and Free Blacks in the Civil War What roles did the Northern women play in the war effort on the Union side during the Civil War? What roles did the Southern women play in the war effort on the Confederate side during the Civil War? How did the war affect each group? “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) Women during the 19th century, according to Historian Barbara Welters were “hostage of the home”. (Brown, 2012) Women were considered what we know now as home wives, without really the option of doing anything outside of the home. When the Civil War began, that meant that men left home …show more content…

There were others that were about of the regiments in which the male relative was serving. These women “camp followers” tended to the sick, cleaned weapons, cooked, and help take care of the sick. (Middle Tennessee State University Teaching with Primary Sources, 2015) In my own opinion I believe the war had a great effect on the women of both the North and the South. Without them, I don’t believe there would have been enough nurses to have saved the men they did and there wouldn’t have been anything “at home” for all left on the home-front. Because of the war, we have great American History about women and the impact they had on the Civil War and after. Which I believe led to a huge part of the Women’s Rights Movement. What roles did the Black slaves play in the Civil War? What roles did the free Blacks play in the Civil War? How did the war affect each group? “It took a clear and dire urging from the beloved General Robert E. Lee to convince the Confederate Congress to begin enlisting black soldiers.” (Civil War Trust, 2015) Black men had tried to volunteer their services to the Union but because of President Lincoln being afraid of what it would do to the white men’s morale, he rejected the blacks from volunteering for the war. However, in saying that, it did changed. President Lincoln passed the Emancipation Proclamation, which stated “All persons held as slaves within any States…in rebellion against the United States, shall

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