The Contributions Of Women In The American Civil War .

Women and nurses had a very big role in the civil war. They saved lives, and they also paved way for women in the future. Women were not only nurses in the civil war, but so much more.

After the women were trained the women were sent to hospitals for their placement, usually under Dorothea Dix. These two groups led to the creation of more organizations and increased the standard of medicine. Not only did the creation of organizations help advance medicine in the Civil War, there were many important women that did the same. Working on the battlefield was an ongoing struggle for women being female but they contributed to the development of battlefield medicine throughout the civil war. There were many important women who became nurses or physicians such as Mary Edwards Walker, Mary Ann Ball Bickerdyke, and Clara Barton. Mary Edwards Walker graduated from Syracuse Medical College and attempted to begin her own medical practice. This was extremely difficult for her because people were not ready to accept women as physicians. The stereotype that only men could be doctors and work on the battlefield still existed and this was one of the first times that this stereotype was challenged. She volunteered at military hospitals and took more medical courses to further her

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

An outlet that Alcott and many other women utilized to truly be a part of the war was medicine which enabled them to work on the battlefields and see the bloodshed first-hand. Since large numbers of men on both the Confederate and Union side were wounded and killed, and hospitals were overflowing with recovering soldiers and more staff was needed. Although many societal constraints made it difficult for women to enter the medical field, fierce leaders such as Dorothea Dix and Clara Barton paved the way for future women to work alongside men as medical professionals. Overall, the general perspectives regarding female nurses are evident in personal narratives as well as historical literature. These sources provide us with a deeper insight into the challenges women faced and how their actions paved the way for future

During the many years that people were encouraging young women to be homemakers and stay inside the walls of their own homes, Clara Barton took on many roles which she used to help other people greatly. Previously, Clara was a teacher for the illiterate and a Civil War nurse from 1861 to 1865, where she became one of the best nurses and eventually became known as "Angel of the battlefield" (Slote, 67). She not only was amazing at what she did, but she was the first woman nurse in America to go to the battlefield (Stevenson, 177). Her plan for the aid stations had been adopted as well as many other ideas and had become very well known by the end of the war (Stevenson, 177). Eventually, her act, which was used simply to help wounded soldiers, grew into the formation of the red cross in America. (American Red Cross).

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.

She later got caught and was later put into prison in 1864 by confederate troops and taken into prison. Along with Mary Edward walker, Clara Barton, was an Army nurse. Clara was to serve help in curing injured men. She had a bad experience when she went to go cure a man, a bullet that killed the man she was helping was peireced threw her sleeve. She had been assisting him and tried to save him, but it was too late and he had died. Also these women made a legacy in life, Underground Railroad, being the first US army women surgeon, and the foundation of the American Red Cross. Mary Todd Lincoln, who was married to Abraham Lincoln. Although she was a lot different then the other important women in the civil war, she was just as important. She was the wife of the president during the war. Although she did not exactly fight or become a nurse of the war, she still had to take care of her family and all of Abraham’s stressful days. She had to mend to her children’s needs while Abraham was out making sure the troops in the war were in the right standings. When 1865 came around it was a terrible year for her, her family and her heart were crushed. Her loved one was assassinated, and her family and herself had no idea how to handle it. Being that she was the presidents wife, she was still important to make a legacy. Showed that women are strong enough to handle stress, children, and deaths in their family to be strong for

The desirable characteristics of women during the time made it easier for them to lure men into their homes and extract crucial information about the war. Sarah E. Thompson was able to win the Union’s victory in Greenville since she “got a horse and went to our forces that was at Bull’s Gap and sent word” and this in turn allowed her to “ show him [John Hunt Morgan] to the man” which eventually led him to be shot in the head by Union soldiers. The effect of her action in the war allowed for information to be reached to militia leaders faster since men did not have to split their time between fighting in the war and collecting intelligence. Both fighting sides were using the status and beauty of women to their advantage in order to extract information. Thompson was able to locate an enemy quicker in comparison to the many weeks or months it would have taken the troops to infiltrate the confederate side. Moreover, since women could easily slip intelligence to their respective sides without being caught, patriotism among women increased which caused for a higher volunteer of

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.

The role of women in the United States changed significantly during the Civl War. Before the Civil War, women stayed at home and cared for their children and worked on just about every other chore there was to do around the house. But the Civil War changed much of that. Many brave women decided to take it upon themselves to break out and re-define themselves by choosing to become spies, disguising themselves as male soldiers, becoming nurses, or for newly freed slave women to begin a new life in the North or South. The Civil War opened many new gates for women to provide assistance to their side even if they were not fighting on the battlefield.

The Civil War was a defining point for the United States. The people of America were forced to step back and reevaluate what defined the American Citizen: a person with the rights and privilege to cast a vote for what or who he believes in. The key word here is “he”. The Civil War brought freedom and rights to African Americans, yet it had no directly positive effect on women’s rights. While African Americans were seeing their lives and futures change, to many observers the women’s rights movement seemed barely impacted by the astounding transformations of the Civil War. This idea is not completely accurate. Women did not accomplish much on the legal front, but fundamentally they were able to make great achievements. By stepping out of

Up until the U.S. Civil war women were focused on making their homes a private and comfortable place for their families (History.com Staff). However the coming war would push women into the public eye with lots of women joining volunteer brigades and working as nurses. This was the first time in American history Women played such an important part in the war effort (History.com Staff).

Women contributed themselves tremendously to help in whatever way they could during wars. An earlier war, like The Revolutionary War, kept women a lot more reserved. Women were always considered to stay at home and maintain a nice living environment for their family. While their husband was gone away at war, it was the wife's responsibility to stay care for the family. During The Civil War, women's roles were taken a little more seriously.

During the early years of the Civil War, medical care for the troops was rudimentary, and thousands of soldiers died from infections and disease in army hospitals. In response, the world’s first professional nursing service was created by American hero Clara Barton. Born in Massachusetts in 1821, Barton was a humble clerk who transferred to the Army Quartermaster’s Department in 1862, grew dedicated to hospital work, and became a beloved and skilled nurse. Nicknamed “The Angel of the Battlefield”, Barton was the most famous women in the

Determination and great effort are some of the words that come to mind when reviewing some of the heroic acts by the great nursing pioneers. World War I brought out to light amazing people. There was great necessity for medical assistance in the battlefield and outside the battlegrounds (Nies and McEwen 2011). Mary Breckenridge is an example of the women whom influenced in medical care of the wounded during the war. Aside from establishing the Frontier Nursing Service (FNS), Mary Breckenridge moved to the rural areas following her passion to care for disadvantaged women and children (Stanhope and Lancaster,