Transcript For women, the Civil War “represented both burden

HERstory
Women and the Civil
War
For women, the
Civil War
“represented both
burden and
opportunity”
How did women participate in the
Civil War?
 Ran farms and
businesses
 Worked in factories
 Nurses, teachers,
government workers
 Served the military
forces as
messengers, guides,
scouts, smugglers,
soldiers and spies
Women as soldiers!?
Many soldiers were not
old enough to shave,
so it was easy for a
woman to disguise
herself as a man.
An estimated 400
women, disguised as
men, fought in the
Civil War.
Loreta Janeta Velazquez
Loreta Janeta Velazquez
 Disguised as Lt. Harry
T. Buford, she fought
for the Confederacy at
the battle of Bull Run.
 After the war she
published a memoir of
her time as a soldier
and a spy.
Rose O’Neal Greenhow
 She spied so successfully for
the Confederacy that Jefferson
Davis credited her with winning
the battle of Manassas/Bull Run.
 She was imprisoned for her
efforts first in her own home and
then in the Old Capital Prison.
Despite her confinement,
Greenhow continued getting
messages to the Confederacy
by means of cryptic notes.
Dorothea Dix
 Dix became the Union's
Superintendent of Female
Nurses in June 1861, placing
her in charge of all women
nurses working in army
hospitals.
 To battle stereotypes she only
accepted applicants who were
plain looking and older than 30
and authorized a dress code of
modest black or brown skirts.
 A total of over 3,000 women
served as Union army nurses.
Clara Barton
 Union Nurse
 Known as “the angel of
the battlefield,” Barton
would follow Union
armies into battle.
 Began an independent
organization to distribute
medical supplies to
hospitals
 Founder of the American
Red Cross
Sojourner Truth
 Born Isabella Baumfree,
Sojourner Truth was one of
the earliest and most
passionate of female
abolitionists--for she herself
had once been a slave.
 During the war she gathered
supplies for black volunteer
regiments.
 In tribute to her efforts, she
was received at the White
House by President Lincoln in
1864.
Susie King Taylor
 African American woman
and former slave
 Served with the Union
army's "colored"
regiments during the
second half of the war
 Began her military service
washing and cooking for
the men, but also served
as a regimental nurse and
reading and writing
instructor
 After the war she opened
a private school for black
children
How have
women’s roles
during war time
changed since
the Civil War?
What has
stayed the
same?
Where are we now?
Marines assigned to a female
engagement team in Afghanistan
in 2011, before the women in
combat ban was lifted.
Just recently (1/24/13),
Pentagon policy has
changed regarding
women in combat.
Before, women could not
be assigned to a unit
whose primary mission
was to engage in direct
combat.
Now, gender is not a
consideration in
assigning women in the
military their roles.
Please answer the following
questions in your notebook:
For women the war was both “a burden and an
opportunity.”
 How are women burdened in war?
 In what ways did the Civil War provide
opportunities for women to be “freedom
fighters,” both for North and South?
 U.S. women are now allowed to engage in
direct ground combat. What are your
opinions on this policy? Why?