Women 's Rights During The Civil War

After four years of seemingly endless battle between a divided nation, more than 600,000 people were killed. These lives, however, were not given in vain. Had it not been for the American Civil War, abolition may not have been carried out. The nation might have remained divided. Women might have remained confined to their roles as the "homemakers." Although the Civil War was fought in hopes of preserving the nation and ridding it of slavery, another war raged on within the depths of this war--the women's war. Serving as nurses both in the hospital and on the battlefields, women came to know a whole

Before the war, women had very little rights. A married woman could not control property that was hers before marriage, keep control of her wages, acquire property while married, she could not transfer or sell property, she couldn’t even bring a lawsuit. A husband could do anything he wished to with a woman’s material. He could sell them, break them, and his wife couldn 't sell or give away the exact same things. It was immensely unfair to women. But, they would not stay quiet for long. The sexism had to stop!

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.

Women were considered frail, unintelligent, and unable to make decisions in eighteen-hundredths America. It was traditional wisdom that a woman’s place was in the home. The Civil War marked a turning point for women and their role in society. Through my research consisting of books, letters, speeches, and articles, I will tell the story of a time in America when women rose to satisfy the needs of the country when most men were away fighting the war. This essay will analyze the roles of women in eighteen-hundredths America, by evaluating how women’s roles had changed; they now were nurses, soldiers/spies, and public workers/activists.

" ‘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

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

Women in the mid-1800s had nearly any rights they could not vote or hold office. If women were to get married their husband got all of the property he owned all her wages if she worked the husband could hit his wife long as it did not injure her. Women held many rallies and other events to try and get equal right. The Women's Rights Movement allowed women a chance to go to college and other schooling opportunities. Finally women got the same jobs as men they got paid the same they owned all of their property and wages.

As most of us know the women of the Civil War were a lot different I believe than the

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

The Civil War, fought in 1861, is known for its audacious men and their hard work towards the four-year-long war. Many would have never known that among the soldiers who fought were more than four-hundred women. During the 1800s, men believed that “true women” should not receive equal rights as they do and were expected to do housework and raise a family. When the war broke out, men were sent to fight in the war, leaving a gateway to a new lifestyle for women. The Civil War was an opportunity for women, allowing them to face new duties and responsibilities as a way to change perception between men and women, such as fighting in the war, nursing for the sick and wounded, and providing resources to the soldiers.

The American civil war had a great impact on lives of women. Women prior to this generation had improved in terms of legal rights, getting access to educating and also gained entry to acquiring manufactured goods by the mid of 1800’s. They were notable for being active partakers of the second Great Awakening that swept across the country, reformation that took place which includes the abolition movement, temperance, colonization of former slaves and improvement of prisons. Regardless of these significant movement, majority of the women lived in rural areas, performed hard work and still led a domestic life which was centered on their families, households, gardens and crops. The diversity that exist now in Women made them contribute to the

“So you’re the little woman who wrote the book that started this Great War,” said Abraham Lincoln to Harriet Beecher Stowe. Stowe is the author of the infamous book “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” (Impact of…) Harriet Beecher Stowe was one of the thousands of women who helped to support the civil war effort. During the civil war women made an impact on a multitude of different areas, including, abolition, supporting the war effort, serving as soldier or nurses, and running life back at home.

The Civil War was not only a fight to free slaves it was also presented a good representation of new roles for upcoming women. The Civil War was the start of the thought process that women and men were equal and had some of the same responsibilities. Many before this war didn’t believe in women doing many of the things they did in this war. The role of the woman was very controlled and had some definite guidelines that most women had to follow. Higher class women didn’t follow this as much because they had other responsibilities.

Women learned from their involvement with the civil rights movement to “think radically about the personal worth and abilities of people whose role in society had gone unchallenged before.” These thoughts, naturally, became part of how women began to place themselves within the civil rights movement and to truly start to think about what being a woman in a civil rights organization, like SNCC meant. In a way SNCC acted similarly to the radical abolitionists of the nineteenth century in that they “suggested ways that individual discontent could become the basis for large scale political activism.” They began to think about the societal institutions that they were expected to be a part or such as marriage and childrearing. Women in the movement had “developed too much self-confidence and self-respect to accept subordinate roles passively.”

“The idea that men and women should play different roles in society is an ancient concept.” It is the 21st century. Men and women should have equal rights by now. An examination of primary and secondary sources will reveal the historical significance of Women’s rights.