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

Most people in the world today think of women and men as equals, but it was not always like that. Before females were given the right to vote, they were only thought as objects, and worthless without a man. One of the few circumstances in which women were thought as a near equal to a man was amid the age of war. One critical war in the battle for gender equality was the Civil War, in which women had important roles.

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!

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,

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

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 United States during the Civil war was a divided nation and filled with gruesome fighting. It hit all parts of the country and brought the fighting right to the back yards of families. While the men of the nation fought the combat war, woman fought different wars in the shadows. Fighting split millions of families up, and it affected woman in multiple ways. Challenges differed for woman from North and South. While some woman’s homes were turned into hospitals, other woman had to learn how to tend to their plantations while their husbands were away fighting. Many women disguised themselves as men to fight in the war because in the 1860s, a woman fighting in the war was not allowed yet. Numerous enslaved

When women were fighting for their rights, they approached the situation in multiple different ways. They were all connected with the same desire to get their rights and get a say in who ran the country that they lived in. They felt useless, just staying at home and being expected to only take care of children and the house.

It took the United States too long to finally apply the principles of equality to women. With the country being founded on the principle that “all men are created equal,” there strictly should have never been issues that opposed basic human rights towards women. But because such issues did exist, and women weren’t allowed to advocate change because of societal conventions, it took a while for any sort of reform to occur. It was during the Reconstruction era that women in the abolitionist movement were inspired to take matters into their own hands and improve their situations on their own as a collective group. They didn’t need to rely on men or the government any longer because they knew that if it were up to them, nothing would change.

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.

Women in the Civil War were basically the beginning of a movement, because many people thought that women could not accomplish fighting in a war. The role of women in the Civil War failed to be noticed by people in history. Women’s roles prior to the Civil War were to take care of home and family. Single women or those who were poor could find work outside the home, but there was a short list of things or places for them many women who stayed home also became the center of the arrangement of ladies gathering supplies and raising funds for the soldiers.

To form an opinion on the subject it is imperative to understand women’s role in our military since its inception. During the revolutionary war many served in camps to do soldiers laundry, cook for them, and treat their wounds with permission from the commanding officers. In the Civil War women were in charge of hospitals and serving as nurses and cooks for both sides of the conflict, with the additional duty for some to act as spies. The Civil War is the first and only conflict that a woman earned the Medal of Honor; Dr. Mary Walker penetrated the enemy front lines to care for wounded Union Soldiers when no man would

The American Civil War was fought for freedom. However, even after the war, the concept of freedom was not universally understood. Freedom remained limited for certain individuals depending on their race, gender, and different class systems. The war especially had a great impact on the country’s social and political aspects of the entire population, particularly women. Essentially, it gave women the momentum to fight for their rights. Years before the civil war, women and men had separate spheres. Men belonged in the public sphere, who went out and worked in shops, factories, or offices, while women were affiliated with the domestic sphere, emphasizing the up-keeping of their homes and families. Women were stripped of the many opportunities to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Throughout the 19th century, women initially advocated against slavery then began to escape the domestic sphere and fight for their rights as citizens. In both primary and secondary sources, the notion of women progressing for democracy is greatly demonstrated. During and after the American Civil War, women of the nation defend their equality by proclaiming citizenship as they fought for universal suffrage, advancement in public jobs, and justice in courts.

Throughout the entire book the author talks about the different challenges the many women of the Civil War overcame even though they did not have to face these challenges in the first. At the end of the book the author even states, “Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr… summed up the Civil War experience of his generation with these words: ‘In our youth our hearts were touched with fire.’ When we think about the bravery of those who fought in the Civil War, we can now honor the passionate women whose hearts were also touched with fire and who went to extraordinary lengths to serve as soldiers” (93). With this very firm statement, it becomes clear that if you look into the core of all the things that women soldiers of the Civil War did, they all were fueled with the same driving force as any of their fellow male comrades. This message is very clear because the book includes many chapters such as, “Reasons for Becoming a Soldier,” “A Soldier’s Life,” “Women at Antietam,” and “Hospitals and Prisons.” All of these chapters (and others) contain information about women soldiers’ perseverance and the differences of men to women soldiers which, unsurprisingly, is not a lot other than