Women During The Civil War

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The Women of the Civil War Shawna Doughty HIST 101 American Public University Chris Morton Shawna Doughty Chris Morton HIST 101 October 14, 2012 The Woman of the Civil War For the most part the Civil War is often looked at as a man’s war, but thousands of women also actually took part in the war. Women were involved in the Civil War in both the North and South, slaves and free women, rich and poor, married and single. It is easy to see that all types of women took part in the great conflict that consumed the nation. The women in the Civil War all played different parts, and had very different journeys, but they were still involved and many people tend to forget about them. In the years before the Civil War, the…show more content…
Many women wanted a more active and significant role in the war efforts. Inspired by the work of Florence Nightingale and her fellow nurses in the Crimean War, they tried to find a way that they could get to work on the front lines. They wanted to care for sick and injured soldiers and keeping the rest of the troops healthy and safe. Though the actual number will never be known, an estimated 400 to 1,000 women disguised themselves as men and served as Civil War soldiers for both the Union and the Confederate army. As incredible as it may seem, such women passed cursory physical entrance examinations and lived the lives of soldiers, shared their privations, and braved the same dangers. Many were only discovered when they required medical care for illness, wounds received in battles, or in some cases delivered babies. There are documented cases of women serving as officers and enlisted men at most major battles, and some received pensions for their service after the war (McDevitt…show more content…
However, women's involvement in the Civil War did not cause a major change in the definition of the woman's job title. Although women had endured many different types of hardships and successfully held leadership positions at home or in hospitals during the war, many of them gave back these roles to men who returned from the battlefield. Most women continued to be tied with the home, and still did not have the right to vote or hold any property. African American women had gained their freedom, but not much else happened for woman after the
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