Women's Role In 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.

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.

Some, however, were much closer to the battlefield than they would have liked to have been. Lucy Breckinridge, a nineteen-year-old girl who lived in the Shenandoah Valley, wrote in her diary how she could hear the cannons over the mountains. Carrie Berry consistently wrote that her family spent a good part of two months in the cellar while her home was being bombarded by shells. Another nineteen-year-old, Sarah Morgan, from Baton Rouge, went to the levees to watch the battles, even though it was against her mother's wishes.5 But some women took it a step further: rather than just watching the men fight for the Southern states, a few women decided to pick up a gun and join the ranks.

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 is a very important part of American history – simply put, it determined what kind of nation the United States would be. The Civil War resolved whether the United States is what determined the survival of the Union or whether the Confederacy would gain independence. It is the battle that determined whether the largest slaveholding country in the world would continue to exist as such since it thrived on the fundamental idea that “all men are created with an equal right to liberty.” Many men were drafted and put their lives on the line during the war to fight for the freedom or the right to own slaves. The men were not the only individuals affected by the war; it significantly affected the lives of many

The number of women serving as men in the war was hard to determine, because they were disguised as males. The predicted number ranges from 250-500 women (civilwar.org). Women were not allowed to fight in the war because they were needed to take care of the family home while the husband fighting. Women who were really passionate about the war would use pseudonyms, so no one would be able to figure out their true identities when they enlisted as soldiers. To disguise themselves, women had to also cut their hair very short and wear very baggy uniforms. The reason these women could slip into the military so easily is because in the 1800s, the soldiers were not given any physical body exams. “The Union and Confederate army were willing to take any person that could fight... Some women even teamed up with their husbands to fight in the war with them” (library.mtsu.edu). Most women served because they had strong motivations for wanted to help out America. “75% of soldiers that were women fought in major battles including the Battle of Gettysburg and Antietam” (Historical Society of Pennsylvania). Factors that motivated women were, “the thirst they had for adventure since they couldn’t do much, to accompany their sons or husbands, their dedication to their country, and to gain some money for their families” (library.mtsu.edu). Women went out of their way to serve for their country even if they were not allowed

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.

The American Civil War was the deadliest battle fought on American soil. The war caused nearly everyone to do whatever they could to help the side that they chose. This included men, women, and children. While women were a part of earlier wars, there was an increase of women in the Civil War that wanted to do their part. Women played a great role in the Civil War as nurses, spies, and soldiers.

Women were not allowed to enlist in the war at the time, so in order to fight they usually had to resort to adopting male alias’ and cutting their hair, and since there was usually no required military training to serve in the war at the time and most soldiers were rarely exposed in front of others unless they were wounded in battle, women had an easier time of not being discovered. It is thought that over 400 women soldiers actually fought in the civil war, although the exact number is undocumented. There were a number of reasons that women decided to do this, and many of these reasons were similar to why men served- some wanted to join their loved ones on the battlefield and fight alongside them, others did it for the wages as a way to provide for their family, and some did it because of their sense of patriotism. A well known woman who did this was Frances Clayton, under the alias of Jack Williams, when she joined the army and served in the Missouri artillery and cavalry corps. Usually a woman would be discovered in the army if she became injured, but usually there were no consequences enacted and she would be sent home, but most women were not compensated for their service, even if they were recognized as having fought in the Civil

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

For a long time, the premise of war was that men would go to war while women stayed home to take care of the children and the towns that were left behind. As a consequence, women are often left out of the main narratives of war. Interestingly, historians looking specifically at women’s effects on the Civil War effort have found that women not only worked indirectly for the war effort in their towns to support the war by making uniforms and ammunition and that some even participated directly in the war by disguising themselves and battling on the front or by acting as spies for both the Union and the South.

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

I am researching women in the American Civil War. I am concentrating on the gender lens, looking at the perspective from the home front to the battlegrounds, how they fought for the American Civil War cause just as the men did. The following four secondary sources, provide insight into my proposed research topic.

Women cannot fight, perform manual labor and certainly cannot handle the rigors of war. This fact has been handed down to us since the beginning of time, so it must be true, right? The Civil War and the years leading up to it are very much like other times of war. Men are the dominate force in policy, finance and rights. Women are fighting for justice, equality and a say in the country that they call home. Women are regularly oppressed and looked down upon, yet when the country is in turmoil they rise to the challenge.

Single women openly announced that they would date or espouse only those who offered to serve. Various younger women, often the age of 30 and widowed