What changes in women’s private and public lives occurred in the decades after the Civil War, and how did these affect women from different back- grounds? Why do you think emphasis on the status of “ladies” became so insistent in this era?

What changes in women’s private and public lives occurred in the decades after the Civil War, and how did these affect women from different back- grounds? Why do you think emphasis on the status of “ladies” became so insistent in this era?