Women in Civil War
Thesis
Wartime contributions expanded women’s ideas on their ideal place in families and in the society.
Sources
Battle Scars: Gender and Sexuality in the American Civil War. Ed. Clinton Catherine & Silber
Nina. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2006 Print
Bercaw Nancy. Gendered Freedoms: Race Rights, and the Politics of Household in the Delta,
1861-1875. Florida: University Press of Florida. 2003. Print
History. Women in the Civil War. 2016
http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/women-in-the-civil-war
Body of Evidence
According to History (1), American women focused on the world away from their homes during the civil war. Majority of them were recruited in the volunteer brigades and other social roles. It was during this time that American women greatly contributed to the war as they volunteered alongside their male counterparts to achieve the objectives of the war. Women were organized into aid societies, which supplied the requirements of the troops such as food, clothing, and cash, and assumed active roles, after becoming inspired with the renowned heroes like Florence Nightingale. Some women managed to assume positions in the front lines, cared for the sick soldiers and ensured that the troops resided in healthy and safe environments. This is attributed by the fact that most of the males in the houses were recruited in the war, leaving women to assume masculine roles in the house other than the v roles that defined womanhood.
Bercaw (2) gives the statistics of women who volunteered in war either through union or through confederacy. From the study, it is difficult for researchers to obtain documents with the exact number of women in the field. This is because, it was culturally, and military unaccepted to involve women in masculine duties. In a certain interview, a military administrator clearly stated that no records could be found of the women who fought in the war. This is partially true as most of these women deceived their officers by using male names and hid their gender. The study in essential in this research as it reveals the extent women went to assume control of the world and forsake the Victorian definition of a woman. The study is besides useful as it underscores how Victorian domesticity was modified to assume more significant and patriotic roles, which led to redefinition of the appropriate female behavior.
According to Battle (97), battlefields were defined for males only. However, brave women disguised themselves and played similar roles as the male. To register as soldiers, brave women had to assume masculine names to disguise themselves as males. Due to this fact, it is difficult to state the precise number of women who sufficed as soldiers in the civil war. Women defied the Victorian social constraints that confined them to the domestic sphere and fought alongside men. No clear records can however be found containing records of women who fought in the war. This is due to the negative perception towards women in the society and positive attributes directed towards men. Additionally, women hid their identities and used phony male names.
Conclusion
The thesis of the study accentuates that wartime contributions expanded women’s ideas on their ideal place in families and in the society. The three references used emphasizes that women overcame the Victorian roles women assumed and positively contributed to the society by assuming more active and public roles. History (1), asserts that American women were more focused on the outside world away from their domestic roles during the civil war. Bercaw gives the estimated statistics of women who volunteered in war either through union or through confederacy. Battle underlines that battlefields were defined for males and women modified existing culture and redefined themselves.
Works Cited
Battle Scars: Gender and Sexuality in the American Civil War. Ed. Clinton Catherine & Silber
Nina. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2006 Print
Bercaw Nancy. Gendered Freedoms: Race Rights, and the Politics of Household in the Delta,
1861-1875. Florida: University Press of Florida. 2003. Print
History. Women in the Civil War. 2016
http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/women-in-the-civil-war