Women's Role In The Civil War Essay

After decades of uprise, in 1861, tensions between the North and South could not be subdued any longer. The cause of these unsettled tensions ultimately contributed to the American Civil War. The Civil War was a brutal, bloody war between states involving men and women. Prior to the American Civil War, women devoted their lives to service inside the home. However, with the beginning of the Civil War, the lives of many women changed forever. The role of women drastically changed when women were put into male positions and succeeded. Many women started to realize what they were capable of and began influencing other women to engage in Civil War efforts. The Civil War challenged women to take a stand for what they believed they could do, moreover;
The involvement of women during the Civil War left a lasting influence upon America and is exemplified through female nurses, soldiers, and spies. Many women were inspired to get involved by becoming nurses and attending to wounded soldiers in field hospitals. According to the article, “Florence Nightingale”, women inspired to get involved in activities outside of the home even before the Civil War began. Florence Nightingale was a female nurse who worked contentiously to achieve an outstanding nursing reputation by creating sterile environments and spreading compassion for the wounded soldiers. Her newfound reputation proved to be useful in 1853 when the Crimean War broke out. During this time nurses had a lousy reputation causing military leaders to avoid hiring nurses. When it was made known to the public eye that soldiers were not being cared for properly, chaos broke out. This forced the Secretary of War Sidney Herbert, to call Florence Nightingale into action, along with a team of thirty-four nurses. Nightingale arrived to the battlefield hospitals in complete horror of the unsanitary conditions. She worked to improve sanitation and
While some women were out saving lives and others fighting, there were a few women who chose to risk their lives by being spies. The article, “Women spies of the Civil War”, lists several women who volunteered to potentially risk everything in order to further the Confederacy or Union. One of the spies for the Confederacy, Rose Greenhow, a charming conversationalist used her status to gather censorious information from a variety of political leaders. Greenhow is most famously attributed with assisting the Confederacy in the First Battle of Bull Run, as she exposed the Union’s attack plan. If Greenhow had not passed along this information the whole battle could have played out differently. Another famous female spy is Elizabeth Van Lew. Van Lew was a spy for the Union and is most accredited with her contribution of the spy network. She is the Union spy who created many sly ways to send coded messages to Union officers (History.com Staff). Many of the women who were spies were wealthy and had access to key diplomats and politicians. The women utilized their status and esteemed personalities to obtain delicate information about their enemies. Once the women had gathered key information they sent coded messages to military generals. The women who dedicated themselves to spying during the Civil War influenced each battle. Information obtained by a spy had the potential to alter the outcome of each