The American Civil War marked a defining period in the United States history. The war forced women into public life in ways people may not be able to imagine in a generation. Thousands of women became involved in the war as Civil War nurses. Many women disguised themselves as men during the war so they can fight. This was the first time in many years that the women played a significant role in war.
Ife Otukoya Period 5 Women in the Civil War: Positive or Negative A lot of historians would say that the Civil War took a negative toll on the country, but I say that it was positive. I say it’s positive because first, slaves were allowed to vote, and women’s rights were extended. They were able to take on the jobs and responsibilities once thought to be a man’s. In the present day women are out numbering men in the nursing profession. Before the civil war it was mostly men who were nurses, but since a lot of them went to war, the ladies took on the job.
This was a critical long term contribution to medicine as it helped professionalise nursing which was once associated with working class women. This can be seen in the Modern Era where nursing is now a predominantly female profession. Anderson was the first female doctor to qualify in England. She failed to get into any medical school and enrolled as a nursing student at the Middlesex Hospital. She attended classes with male colleagues, but was barred after complaints.
They began to take up jobs that would be considered unsuitable for women before 1914, such as working in munitions factories and other war industries. Many women volunteered to work overseas as nurses or ambulance drivers. They also drove buses, streetcars, and worked on police forces and civil service jobs. They were also needed for agriculture. Almost all jobs men did before they left to fight in the war were now a women’s job.
Barton was a union war nurse who was often found on the battlefield nursing the injured. In 1869 Barton was introduced to the Red Cross and the idea of providing relief care ("National Women's History Museum,” 2012). Inspired Barton returned to the United States and introduced these theories to the American people, thus creating the first American Red Cross ("National Women's History Museum,” 2012). Nurses such as Nightingale and Barton are just two of many nurses who have created what is referred to today as nursing science. The creation of the science of nursing has opened the door for many
Without the changing role of women, things that we have in everyday life as American’s could possibly not exist. Women not only were more help to the family, but they were helping rebuild the nation. As a whole, women helped clean up the process of urbanization and immigration, helped literature grow, and helped change the ongoing problem of women’s suffrage. After the Civil War, many people from other countries started immigrating to America. As a result, urbanization quickly started going out of control due to lack of communication, too many people being forced into slums, and many other reasons.
According to Blias and Hayes (2011), “Much of nursing’s development is related to the need to provide care to sick and injured soldiers during times of war.” Caring for wounded soldiers has highly contributed to the development of nursing in world history. Conditions on the battlefield were deplorable and no better in the military hospitals so a plea for nurses was made. Both the Union and Confederate women responded as well as the Sisters of Mercy and the Sisters of the Holy Cross. The religious orders were devoted and known for providing care to the sick. The sisters were known for their attentive and skilled nursing care.
Women played many roles in the civil war. They did not wait for the men in their lives to come home from the battlefield. Many women supported the war effort as nurses and aides, while others took a more upfront approach and secretly enlisted in the army or served as spies and smugglers. These new jobs delimitate their traditional roles as housewives and mothers and made them an important part of the war effort. Two of the important women in the civil war were, Clara Barton and Harriet Tubman.
Most women that had an active role in the war served in traditional roles. They took care of farms and families while encouraging and supporting the war effort. Women served Soldiers more directly as nurses, cooks, laundresses and clerks. They also became members of the United States Sanitary Commission, the Christian Commission, and many other support-type groups in numbers unprecedented up to that point in the nation’s history. As in the Revolutionary War, women sometimes disguised themselves and enlisted to fight.
Women colleges C. Coeducation Conclusion The Fight for Women’s Rights Throughout history women have been hidden behind their husbands. They were not able to have a say in the household, hold a job with reasonable hours, or be able to earn reasonable pay. Many women would not speak up for themselves. Men took pleasure in their control over them. Elizabeth Cady Stanton fought for women to have legal rights, have better jobs, and higher education, even though many men shunned her.