History Final Project - Copy - Copy

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Final Project The Impact of Women in the Civil War Mandy Oxford Professor Julie Satterfield-Price HIS: 330 Civil War and Reconstruction Southern New Hampshire University August 8, 2023

Women made a powerful impact during the Civil War. These women were taking a bold stance in stepping out of their traditional roles that society had created for them. No longer would women be silent, invisible, or stand behind men. These women stood up in the public eye for a cause they believed in. Many women were responsible for speaking in public, organizing anti-slavery meetings, publishing printed articles, and even working on the front lines with the soldiers for the cause. If had not been for the leadership and bravery of these women, the outcome of the Civil War might have been different. Women had a powerful impact on the Civil War. Their leadership qualities emerged during the Civil War as abolitionists, suffragists, activists, nurses, soldiers, and even spies. Women would stay behind while the men headed off to war with hopes they would return. Due to proper etiquette of the times, women stayed behind to look after the children and the home. These women held many positions during this time. Women took on many roles such as looking after the farms, managing stores, and stepping into a more proactive political role due to their father or husband’s absence. Additionally, women were suggested to stay near the home front to show their support of the men that had gone off to war even with their new variety of roles. Some women decided to take an innovative approach by contributing to the war efforts. These women took a bold and brave step out of their traditional nineteenth century roles. Many women had grown tired of traditional domestic roles and chose to work outside the home for the first time. One woman was quoted telling her dad, “I am tired of this life, of this slow, inactive, wearing life, with its leaden hours…I want to do some work, to render some service for my country.” 1 1 Virginia F. Townsend, “Somewhat of the Story,”

Around 5,000 to 10,000 women volunteered across the country to be nurses to help to the war efforts 2 . At this time, medical roles were male dominated but due to the war there was a need for change. Women volunteers would fill such roles, but nursing was not the only venture women would take on. No matter what side of the war, Union or Confederate, women rallied together to contribute for the cause. Many women came together to create Women aid societies. These women worked on gathering crucial supplies for the soldiers such as medical supplies, food, money, and uniforms. 3 Women also helped in more open ways to assist in the abolitionist organizations. Many of the abolitionist organizations were men only and would not allow women to join their societies. So, women organized their own abolitionist societies by only asking organizations to join that were interest in collaborating with females. 4 From the late 1830s till the Civil War, women from the city of Boston would create and collaborate with many societies that helped them to assist in the Underground Railroad. Some of these groups were as follows: the New England Freedom Association, the Fugitive's Aid Society, the Boston Vigilance Committee, the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society, and the Afric-American Female Intelligence Society 5 . For example, The Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society led by Maria W. Chapman would create a Christmas Bazaar every year to help raise funds for abolitionists to aid in anti-slavery by selling bake goods and domestic made goods. 6 The city of Philidelphia, even though not in Boston, also held a Christmas fair every year from 1835 to 1861. These annual Christmas fairs brought in much success to replenish treasury funds 2 “Breaking down Boundaries: Women of the Civil War (U.S. National Park Service).” 2022 3 Editor. "Festivals." Colored Citizen, Nov 07, 1863. 4 “Boston’s Women and the Underground Railroad (U.S. National Park Service).” 5 “Boston’s Women and the Underground Railroad (U.S. National Park Service).” 6 “Constitution of the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society. [1834].”

for the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society. 7 The Boston Vigilance Committee used African American women to rescue stow away slaves in the Boston Harbor. When a ship was suspected of stow aways, these women would approach the ship with food, clothing, and a carriage to transport to Canada’s borders. The roles of these women were pivotal in this because they were often ignored in society. 8 The women in Boston would witness many events that involved the Underground Railroad through the years leading up to the war. There were many great women that contributed to leading the slaves to freedom. One of the most impactful was Harriet Tubman. Tubman made over nineteen trips to the South and would free over three hundred slaves during a ten-year span, never losing a passenger. 9 Some women, such as Harriet Hayden and Clara Vaught, also bravely used their homes as a sanctuary for the safety of slaves to escape to the Canadian border. 10 Many women in the Abolitionist community often documented the experiences they saw, felt, and dealt with in pamphlets, newspaper articles, published work, diaries, and letters to their friends and family. For example, an abolitionist author and a later figure in the woman suffrage movement, Harriet Beecher Stowe contributed to the cause by having her book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin . This book featured the life of slaves in the mid-nineteenth century. Uncle Tom’s Cabin lit a fire of motivation in the anti-slavery groups in the North and caused an uproar of anger to fight harder in the South. 11 These women not only made an impression on the abolitionist movement, but they opened doors for the suffrage movement. The manuscripts, letters, pamphlets, newspaper articles, etc. that were written by women can now be viewed in the public archives. 7 Rush, N. Orwin. 1946. “Lucretia Mott and the Philadelphia Antislavery Fairs.” Bulletin of Friends Historical Association 35 8 “Faneuil Hall, the Underground Railroad, and the Boston Vigilance Committees 9 National Park Service. 2023. “Harriet Tubman (U.S. National Park Service).” 10 “Boston’s Women and the Underground Railroad (U.S. National Park Service).” 11 Kratz, Jessie. 2019. “Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Fighter for Social Justice.”

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