Southern Women In The Civil War Essay

Historians of the Southern woman during the Civil War can come to no agreement concerning the nature and the role of women in the conflict. According to A.P. Jones, author of The Flower of Southern Womanhood, Southern women a hundred years ago were “lazy, spoiled, and beautiful” (22). They cared only for themselves and subordinated their children, their husbands, and their servants to their own interest

This musket was not accurate and only range for 300feet, so they had to line up shoulder to shoulder in order to increase the possibility to hit enemy. However, after the civil war they began to produce the rifles. The rifles were superior weapon in every way. Its bullet could travel up to 900feet and it was way more accurate. Also reloading speed was much faster.

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.”)

Women in the 1860’s during the Civil War would dress in uniform also cut their hair and pass as men to fight along their male comrades.Other women went to be nurses for the North and South there were also women who would stay home and take their husband's role it shows women worked hard to provide for their families and for themselves.

Men have always made great accomplishments in American history. Men seemed to always be viewed as the superior gender in early America. This was because women were never given the chance to participate in economic or political matters because of the little rights they possessed. During the Civil War, since the nation was in a corrupt state, women had a chance to help out, because America needed every bit of help they could get. The women in this time proved that they could handle immense pressures and could do tasks that men did. Women played a major role during the Civil War because they worked as nurses, acted as spies, and served as disguised soldiers in the army.

The day is July 21, 1861. Two armies are clashing in a battle that marks the beginning of a long war that split their country. Throughout the battle, a Union soldier is brought into the the army hospital tent on a stretcher with four bullet holes in his chest. He is escorted to the nearest bed for treatment and is shocked to find a woman performing the operation. On the same day, in the battle, another man is astonished to find a soldier that looks like and may be a woman fighting the enemy beside him. Like these women, many others took part in the war. Contrary to what many believe, women had played a role in the civil war as spies, nurses, soldiers and on the home front.

Women played many roles in Civil War society. They did not sit alone all day and wait for the men in their lives to come home from the battlefield. Many women in the war served as nurses while others took a more upfront approach and enlisted in the Army or they served as spies and smugglers. Clara Barton was a civil war nurse at the Battle of Bull Run, after which she established an agency, then she distributed supplies to soldiers. Often working behind the lines, she aided wounded soldiers on both sides.

Before the Civil War women were used in a strict capacity as domestic house wives. They cooked, cleaned, took care of the kids and their husbands. Their roles changed drastically at the on-set of the Civil War and all throughout the civil war, they became a very important part of war efforts. Their contribution to the civil war was not only as domestic help, but also on the frontline in combat as well. Specific women in the war played a different role in sharing their support.

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 white-Southern women, there can be greater understanding of the complex relationship between the history of the Civil War and the Southern women who endured it.

Women during the Civil War Women during the Civil War had a lot of different responsibilities. They also played a huge role in the Civil War. Men had to go serve in the war while the women had to take care of the children. While the women were at home they were thinking, “Why can’t we serve in the war.” They thought of themselves as useless people who had to stay home and do nothing.

" ‘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

The role of women in the Civil War has often been overlooked in history. In the mid-1800s, stereotypes about women flourished. Women were viewed as the weaker sex. They were thought to be fragile and dependent. Gender roles were strictly divided with the woman placed firmly in the home, in charge of domestic tasks and childcare. However, when their husbands, sons, fathers and brothers joined the military during the Civil War, many women assumed new roles. Much has been written about the American Civil War but comparatively little could used to be found about the role that women played serving in the war either on the Confederate side or in the Union. However, in recent years more research has brought their stories to the forefront. Women across the

Many people believe that women did not play any essential roles in our country’s history until the 1960s. However, this is not the case. Women have played many vital roles in suffrage movements as attempts to shed light upon or cure many of the ills of American society throughout American history.

When we think of the Civil War, many think of the sacrifices and influences of the men during this time. Women of the Civil War however, were also active participants of making history. Their lives before the war were that of being proper. Their focus was working to maintain and support their families. The Civil War stole away the life as women knew it and placed them into a whole different role- one that was much more difficult both physically and emotionally. Women of both the North and the South were forced to accept a much different role in order to survive. The Civil War was the first account in history where women had an active role throughout a war. It was their first opportunity to make a difference in our country’s history.

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