Women's Role In The Civil War

Before the existence of the Great War, America had fought in previous wars. In the years before the Great War nursing was not even a word for the women who had helped with the aid of fallen soldiers. Florence Nightingale, who helped in establishing nursing as a career used her efforts in organizing an emergency nursing service (Dahlman 2). Nightingale started off at first with forty women, some of whom were Sisters of Religious Nursing Orders and others hospital-taught women of the old school, not trained in the modern way, but experienced (Dahlman 3). Florence Nightingale founded the Nightingale Training School for Nurses at St. Thomas’ Hospital which was the parent of the modern system of nursing. From her, therefore, we may well date the story of nursing service of the American Red Cross (Dahlman 4).

“Where there are men fighting, there are always nurses.” 2 Women worked on the front and at home during World War ll, unlike women nurses who were not in the fighting

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.

Mary Surratt’s position pointed out the changing roles of women in society, particularly during the Civil War where women not only served as nurses but also as soldiers, spies, abolitionists, wearing pants in public. Women particularly working in espionage posed a dilemma for Union soldiers and federal officials. Did they treat them like they would a man? Or did they deserve special treatment because of their

In the American history, Civil War takes one of the prominent places due to the significance of it role in formation of American consciousness. The Civil Was of 1861-1865 identified the directions that the nation would take in the future development. Still, despite the importance of this event in the history of the United States, its impact on different spheres of human lives is commonly given less attention than necessary for understanding of the future changes in the American mentality. Specific interest is presented with the question of roles of women during wartime, and especially Confederate women. Given the simple fact that men were all gone to war, women were presented with the pressing need to deal with the things they have never took part in, pushing them into public life and making them the central cell of the society instead of their fathers, brothers and husbands. With this, the ideology of domesticity that was present before the Civil War in Confederate women had to change under the pressure of new circumstances. This has put the beginning for the future equalization of rights of men and women and the fight for it that women gradually came to understand the need for.

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 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.

The Civil War altogether influenced the lives of American ladies. A modest bunch camouflaged themselves as men and joined the battle. Others served as spies and nurses. Numerous more tackled new parts at home after their spouses, siblings, and fathers reacted to the invitation to battle. A large number of oppressed ladies started the move to flexibility, starting new lives in the midst of the revulsions of war. By war's end, the amazing loss of life of roughly 620,000 officers had left endless ladies in grieving. Contrasted with past eras, American ladies in general had enhanced their instructive standing, secured extra lawful rights, and procured more noteworthy access to made merchandise by the mid-1800s. Ladies had taken part conspicuously

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

Between 1861 and 1865 men were obligated to leave their homes and fight either on the union or confederate side of the United States during the Civil War. The Civil War challenged the ideology of the roles of women in the antebellum era since many women were given the opportunity to break free of their domestic duties. Rather than fighting with weapons and ammunition, women fought with seduction and sabotage. As a result, the roles of women in the north and south transformed tremendously and became a pivotal aspect of the war. One duty women took on during the Civil War was becoming spies for either the confederacy or union which proved to be influential due to their ability to communicate intelligence quicker to the militia leaders, send supplies

For the duration of the civil war, many women decided to disguise themselves as men and enlist into the army. The reasons women joined the army has a wide variation which spans across love, patriotism, or the want for adventure. (Smith) One woman, Amy Clark, joined the war in order to fight alongside her husband. Clark was so determined that she kept on fighting even after her husband had been killed. (Chang) Women were most often discovered when they were injured and needed to be examined by a doctor. (Smith) Nonetheless, these women fought bravely to stand up among the men in order to fight for what they believed in. Unfortunately, out of the estimated 400 to 750 women who fought in the war, only one received a veteran’s pension. (Smith) Although this may be true, it indeed is a grave injustice because those courageous women deserved recognition. Among the women who decided to serve as soldiers were those who choose to be spies. An example of a prominent female spy was Elizabeth Van Lew, more famously known as Crazy Betsy. Living in Richmond, the Confederate capital, Betsy would collect information from hearing the confederates talk around her. With this in mind, whenever she gathered information she would send it to the Union for their purposes. Not only did she spy for the Union, but she also hid union soldiers in her home. (Chang) The work that Betsy did to assist the Union was truly

The archival resources that I found are from historians who have studied the role of women in the Civil War. The role of women in the Civil War have been both on the home-front and on the war front. During the time of the War Between the States, women took it upon themselves to not only support the men and the cause, but to become soldiers themselves. Women also became involved in politics and nursing the wounded. The archives to support my topic, Women in the Civil War, provide evidence of how women preserved in such a turbulent time in our nation’s history.

Over 5000 volunteer nurses’ north and south served in military hospitals during the Civil War. Nurses were of all sorts and came from all over. Women wanted to be involved in this national struggle in any way they could. They did not want to stay home and play their traditional domestic roles that social convention and minimal career opportunities had confined the majority of their sex to. Many women thought of nursing as an extension of their home duties, almost like taking care of “their boys.” They recall the Civil War as a time when their work as nurses made a difference. It gave them an opportunity to prove they had the ability and courage to help.

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

One aspect of nursing that has changed since the early 1800’s is nursing education. There was no question about the credibility of the women providing care to soldiers after the war. For many years untrained nurses and consequently nursing students cared the sick without any supervision. In 1873, the need for educated nurses was sought but was opposed by untrained physicians who thought trained nurses would pose a threat to their jobs (Gary & Hott, 1988). “Nurses have evolved