Women 's Rights During The Civil 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.

Abraham Lincoln once told Harriet Beecher Stowe,”So you’re the little lady who wrote the book that made this great war”(Hillstrom and Baker 431). Harriet Beecher Stowe, in a way, did start the Civil War, one of the bloodiest battles in American history. She tried her hardest to abolish slavery and never gave up on the slaves no matter what obstacles there were along the road. Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin, helped release slaves during the Civil War, and also worked to abolish slavery in her life.

Since the Unites States free themselves from the oppressing government of British power, the U.S created the opportunity for citizens to become more civilized and understanding nation toward human’s rights. There were many hardships that the United States had to go through for the human rights to start flourishing. There were wars and many political changes that lead to better opportunities in society for women and slaves. Many things happened between 1846 and the civil war in the early 1850’s woman started to revolt and realize there was more to life then just being human puppets. Then shortly after that the parties started to separate and states began to fear that the president would take away their slaves so in fear of that they

The late 1800’s in America life for woman was not as easy or fulfilling as it is for woman in America today. Women were looked at differently than man, and were treated as such. There have been many women in our past that have helped shape who we are as women today. Many groups have contributed to women’s rights as well. Women were not allowed to do a lot of things we as women are allowed to do today. Women in the late 1800’s in America were treated indifferently because: they were refused the right to vote, they were treated differently than men, and in marriage they had separate spheres than the men.

When Harriet had moved to Brunswick Maine with her family, the United States Congress had just passed the Fugitive Slave Law. Shortly after, she had planned to write a protest of slavery since her experiences in Cincinnati. Stowe then began to work on Uncle Toms Cabin, which first appeared in serial form in a Washington, D.C. antislavery newspaper called the National Era. The book was first published March of 1852, in a two-volume set. It became an immediate success and sold 300,000 copies in its first year. Years later, Harriet began touring all over the world, and her novels Uncle Tom’s Cabin along with Dred: A Tale of Great Dismal Swamp were both very known in England. Another crucial experience was when she met Abraham Lincoln in 1862. He thought of Harriet’s controversial novel as a catalyst for the opposition of the Civil War. Lincoln had told her that she was “the little lady who started our big war” (Encyclopedia of World Biography 485).

The roles of women in society have always been a topic for debate. Some think women should be in the kitchen cooking meal and having lots children. Others feel that women can contribute to society in ways that are not a part of the family home, but outside the in board rooms and operating rooms. This paper is going to argue how chauvinistic thoughts of women helped propel the female gender into great spies during the civil war. During the era of the civil war attitudes of women spying during a war was unheard of; women are often over looked as valuable associates in war efforts. Chauvinistic thoughts of women helped propel some into outstanding spies during the Civil War.

Between 1861 and 1865 men were obligated to leave their homes and fight either on the union or confederate side of the United States during the Civil War. The Civil War challenged the ideology of the roles of women in the antebellum era since many women were given the opportunity to break free of their domestic duties. Rather than fighting with weapons and ammunition, women fought with seduction and sabotage. As a result, the roles of women in the north and south transformed tremendously and became a pivotal aspect of the war. One duty women took on during the Civil War was becoming spies for either the confederacy or union which proved to be influential due to their ability to communicate intelligence quicker to the militia leaders, send supplies

It is an accepted convention that the Civil War was a man’s fight, but to the women in that time period, it was not. Many women sacrificed their lives to fight for their family and for their country. The Civil War is symbolic in American history because it shaped society, as we know it today, “Free of slavery”. During the Civil War, women were mostly confined to the domestic sphere and were not allowed to serve in combat. Researchers have noted that women did indeed disguise themselves as men just to fight. During this time period, women felt strongly about staying in their courters

Before the war, the first women’s rights movement took place in 1848. The meeting, known as the Seneca Falls Convention, is commonly accepted as the first step towards equality for women. This was the first step in a battle that would last over seventy years (Women’s Suffrage). The woman’s rights movement was greeted bitterly from all over the country, consuming newspapers with headline after headline, an editorial calling the movement: “the most shocking and unnatural incident ever recorded in the history of womanity” (Sigerman 36). The movement had just started to make an impact when the war broke out in 1861 which makes it easy to come to the conclusion that the vast amount of time between the start of the movement and the actually accomplishment of women’s rights means that the war had a detrimental effect on the movement. When one looks deeper, it becomes apparent that this is untrue.

The American civil war (12 Apr. 1861 – 9 May 1865) had placed a significant impact on the lives of American citizens, women in particular, as their roles held important value within the period of the war. As a handful of women disguised themselves as soldiers, whilst others served as nurses and spies, they became significantly more prominent within society, with their positions in these critical occupations benefiting their surrounding society within times of war. As the mid-1800s brought abounding stereotypes for women, being viewed as the weaker sex, fragile and dependant, the coming of the Civil War challenged the ideology of Victorian domesticity that had defined the lives of men and women within the era. In the North and in the South,

Women During the Civil War  When people think of the Civil War they do not usually think about women and how they played an important part. The women's role changed drastically. Women begin to help out more and become more involved in the Civil War. They started becoming nurses, helping the soldiers that were in need, and even started joining the war. It started helping the women overall in the long run too.

The Civil War brought about the change for women where the standard was to maintain domestic ideals, where women devoted themselves to their husbands and children being the housekeeper and nurtures of their homes. In the North and South when the war, occurred women would now be forced into the world outside of their homes. In one of the letters Mary Dedrick wrote to her husband, she states “I have got some and I have to feed my hogs every night and morning a little” this letter gives a reflection on women working on the farm and having low supply of food. The origins of war made women have to oversee everything that previously had been taken care of by the men.

“Women of the Slaveholding South in the American Civil War”. This informative study allows the reader to get a look into the life of privileged white women of the south.

American author and novelist Harriet Beecher Stowe serves as an influential figure who greatly impacted American history. Her strength as a writer enabled her to deliver her passionate beliefs in opposition of slavery. Throughout her life, Stowe published various works that were sold to the masses. Stowe’s greatest source of acknowledgement stems from the publication of her novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The story captivated her audience through the brutal illustration of slavery in the South, and would become one of the most influential pieces of American literature.

Women were making themselves heard on the topic of emancipation and freedom, which is why upon meeting Harriet Beecher Stowe, Lincoln commented-“So, you’re the little woman who wrote the book that made this Great War.” The author, in this essay notes four developments that assess the impact women had upon the war. First, civil society emerged in the North. People began to read more, attend lectures on numerous subjects, they held civic parades and rituals, poured over political novels, and listened to stump oratories. Next, women were participating in this civil society. Women were starting to make their voices heard largely in part due to the investment in the education of girls, which provided a large literate audience. Then, there was a “social respect” developing for home and motherhood. Focusing on the Christian home provided the basis for reform with all society. Here, the woman of the house becomes the moral compass. So, slavery hit at the