Women's Roles 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

They never were able to enjoy the luxury of womanhood. As one historian said, "being a women never saved a single female from hard labor, beatings, rape, family separation, and death" (“Women in the Civil War”). Many women had to do the work of their partners. (“Women in the Civil War.”)

In the world today nursing plays a major role that often associates with Civil War women, due to the fame of Clara Barton. Clara later founded “the American Red Cross in 1881.” Unlike other nurses she went out to the battlefield to nurse the soldier where they have fallen. With that courageous act she became known at the “Angel of the Battlefield.” Clara was a courageous

First off the nurses were important because they were the ones who helped the injured ones or the sick ones. Normally it would be the nurses who would find out if the women disguised as men would actually be a woman and when they found out the truth they would have to go and tell a genreal the truth. Now between 2,000 to 5,000 women volunteered as nurses during the war. Nursing was a gruesome job that provided an upclose look at the horrific casualties of the war. Civil War nurses cleaned wounds, fed soldiers, dispensed medication and assisted surgeons during operations and medical procedure like amputations.

Although women suffered immensely during the Revolutionary War, they played significant roles in the founding of the nation. Women played substantial roles of organizing for boycotts of British commodities, managing family business while struggling to maintain a modicum of routine work as husbands (Berkin 56). They also raised funds for the fledging nation. Some of the women acted as surrogate spouses in the family while their men went to the battlefield to fight. Berkin also reveals that women played significant roles in the war by leading in the battlefield (67). In this case, both men and women lead and fought in the front lines. The narrative of Margaret Corbin, who became a cripple for her entire life after she took her husband’s place in the battlefield, is a good example of how women participated in the war.

During the Civil War, women accepted the generally male occupation of nurses. Nursing was one of the most significant ways that women contributed to the war. It is estimated that over 3,000 women volunteered as nurses during the Civil War. According to Women in the Civil War, “so many women eagerly volunteered for the job, they earned a nickname from the press, Florence Nightingales”. Until the Civil War, women rarely worked as nurses outside the home. Whether on the side of the Confederate or the Union women took care of the wounded the best they could. Huge causalities on both sides meant everyone was directly affected by the war, even those living far from the battlefields. In many places in the South, where most of the fighting took place, every available building became hospitals, and women

Before the war, few women were nurses. Being a nurse was a man’s job, but now that most men got called out to the war they were in need of nurses. Since women had the time to help, several volunteered themselves. Many men thought the job wouldn’t be appropriate for them. They didn’t want their delicate women to be subjected to the horrors of war, but as time went on they realized how strong they were, mentally and physically. Although a large amount of them were untrained to be nurses, they did an excellent job attending the soldiers. Some women demonstrated their leadership skills, like Dorothea Dix who stepped forward and became the Union Superintendent of Nurses. She recruited volunteer nurses that were over the age of 30 and were “plain looking women”. She recruited these women because she didn’t want people to think that the women were there for the men’s sexual desires. Since there had already been a big controversy were women were being called prostitutes for being nurses (Wayne). Other women took their housekeeping skills to the soldiers’ camps, cooking and doing their laundry. A few women worked as spies for their

Women in the Confederacy had a great impact on the Civil War. They were thrown into totally different lifestyles--ones that did not include men taking care of the land and other businesses. Women had more control of their lives than ever before. Some took it upon themselves to get involved directly with the war while others just kept the home fires burning. Whatever roles they played, women contributed a multitude of skills to the Civil War effort.

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 altered the lives of women, in both the North and South, just as it altered the nation as a whole. Although it is irrefutable that both the North and the South felt the wrath of the war, the South encountered a unique set of troubles that caused the weight of the war to fall predominantly on Southern women. Attempting to understand the experiences of all Southern women during the Civil War does not come without its challenges. It is impossible to connect the stories and experiences of all Confederate women without generalizing their history. However, by narrowing the analysis to a singular concentration of middle and upper class

n recent years, historians (including this reviewer) have examined the complex reactions of Confederate women to the Civil War with an emphasis on ambivalence, class conflict, and new gender roles. There has also been an emphasis on disaffection from the Confederacy and sometimes from men in general. Much of this scholarship has attempted to revise and even displace the stock contemporary and historical images of Confederate women as fervent and unwavering patriots willing to make any sacrifice for their beloved cause. Perhaps the interpretative pendulum has swung a bit far, and the publication of Ellen Renshaw House 's diary should remind us that the traditional picture of fire-breathing and unreconstructed "secesh females" had some basis in fact.

Although the exact number of nurses that served in the Civil War is not known, it is estimated that between 2,000-5,000 ladies served as nurses. The nurse’s job was not an easy one, they assisted surgeons during surgery, they cleaned and fed the troops that were in recovery, they would bandage wounds and dispense medicine to those that needed it. Some of the more notable nurses are: Dorothea Dix- part of the founders of the US Sanitation Committee, Clara Burton-founder of American Red Cross, Louis May Alcott, and Helen Gilson.

The Civil War has often been referred to as the war between brothers, but when the war started women were still expected to stay at home and take care of the house and children, with little to no income. Many stories that originated from the Civil War talk about the battlefront and not the home front. This leaves us wondering what the spouses of the soldiers did to survive, especially if they had multiple children in the home. We do not know what women did during the war and if they had any impact whatsoever. Comparing Charleston and Philadelphia, which were the second largest cities in their respective areas at the time, it seems that Philadelphia women would have more of an impact on the war than the women in Charleston.

During the American Civil War, many women volunteered to become nurses who eventually impacted the lives of others. Before the Civil War era, the nursing profession consisted of only men, however that changed once the war began and led many woman to converge to join. As men were fighting a bloody war, women were fighting their own battles to prove that they can be strong just like men. Their situation required them to have real strength and stamina, in which they proved to the men they had. Some nurses even risked their lives to go out on the fields to aid soldiers or even pass off as soldiers. Women such as Clara Barton and Dorthea Dix provided care for those soldiers and became one of the most influential nurses in the American Civil War because of their work and

Since men expected women not to tell secrets, women were easily able to get lots of useful information from the enemy. Confederate and Unionist women found many ways to get information from the enemy and pass it on. To hide the messages, women put the messages in their hoop skirts, corsets and parasols. Some women got fame during the war and still are in 2016 like Harriet Tubman, Rose Greenhow, Belle Boyd and Elizabeth Van Lew. Besides being a spy, nursing is the most common role that Americans today associate with Civil War women because of Clara Barton was a nurse and founder of the American Red Cross. The North, South, military administrators and surgeons discouraged some from serving the wounded and ill. To prove they could be a nurse, women had to demonstrate that they could work with a dangerous, chaotic environment full of male strangers. Since women didn’t qualify they still served as nurses but worked under the United States Sanitary Commission. It was a civilian organization that created care for the Union wounded. The organizations main goal was to treat and prevent diseases and infections by improving the conditions of hospitals and army camps. Many people think the Civil War nurses did the basics like changing bandages, tending wounds, and dispensing medicine. They passed out supplies, cooked and served meals, did laundry, wrote letters for soldiers and read to them. Clara Barton refused to wait for the wounded soldiers to return to the rear of the battlefield so she nursed them where they had fallen. She dodged so many bullets at the Battle of Antietam and Fort Wagner that she became known as “Angel of the Battlefield” and named superintendent of nurses in the Army of James in June of