The start of the Civil War challenged the general idea that had defined the roles of men and women in the antebellum era. In the North and South, the Civil War compelled women to act in capacities they could have hardly imagined before.
Before the Civil War outbreak, American women’s lives were shaped by the ideology that Historians usually called “the Cult of True Womanhood.” As men shifted from home to offices, factories, and shops, the house became the women’s place, a feminine domestic sphere. Women primarily devoted themselves to ensuring the home was a haven for their husbands and children. However, during the Civil War, American women faced a new set of obligations and responsibilities that helped them expand their ideas about what a woman’s ‘proper place’ should be. As the Civil War raged on, millions of men were either lost to – or lost in battle, and economic situations continued to get worse; it became imperative for women to assume new roles. Daily realities of survival forced women to become farmers, entrepreneurs, mill workers, etc.
Many of the Soldier’s wives came from a non-slaving class of farmers, and as such, when their husbands left for War, they became providers for themselves and their households. Women carried on the plowing, and planting that men generally did. Sadly, not all women could handle the rigors of farming and caring for their families. As a result, many women and children died from diseases and infections caused by food, medicine, and clothes scarcity. These scarcities led to rising costs and inflation. This dire situation sometimes resulted in riots. For instance, a group of women who desperately needed food attacked greedy merchants who hoarded goods or sold them at ridiculously high prices. In 1863, more than seventy-five women seized flour and other food items from speculators in Salisbury. Another report in 1864 reported that five women were sentenced to prison for stealing seven sacks of grain from the depot in Bladenboro. In another incident in Catawba County, some women attacked distillers who were producing whiskey from precious grain needed for food.
Often, women wrote letters to their husbands urging them to come home. The wealthy planters and speculators were frequently despised because they had plenty of food but could not sell it cheaply to needy families. The bitterness towards them became even more severe because of the Confederate exemption policy. Individuals who owned twenty or more slaves were not conscripted into the army, but non-slaving individuals did not enjoy such an exemption. The assumption was that the men would only be gone for a year and would be back in time for harvest, but that was not the case. The women had to rise to the challenge and showed growing assertiveness. The prevalent view of women as frail and dependent became quickly obsolete as they assumed new roles.
Furthermore, many women suffered emotional and physical attacks from outside their homes. They endured raiding by the Federals and the Confederates. For the first time in their lives, many women provided for their households and made important decisions about what, when, where to plant, and how to transport their goods to the market despite the deplorable conditions. At the same time, they need to contend with corrupt local Home Guards, Yankee bummers, and roving gangs who come to take and destroy their properties. Isolated and alone, they faced the ever-present risk of being assailed by the suspicion of favoring the other faction. They were also vulnerable to the assault of the violent men let loose by the War.
Women of the plantation class had to contend with another set of challenges. Many of them had slaves and had very few hands-on skills. When the men went to War, most women couldn’t control their slaves and when the slaves escaped or were released, could not continue the plantation work.
Women’s roles in the Civil War
The Civil War was the first time in American history that women played an essential role in a war campaign. Reports show that more than 400 women enlisted and fought in the War disguised as men. The camouflage was so convincing that they were only discovered when treated for war-related injuries. Furthermore, several thousands of other women, both in the South and North, volunteered and signed up as nurses. Women also organized societies to aid war efforts. They supply Union troops with food and every other essential item, including vegetables, fruits, clothing materials, knitted socks, and gloves. They organized county fairs, door-to-door fundraising campaigns, and other events to raise money for medical supplies and other needed items.
Many women also worked on the front lines, caring for the wounded and sick. The Federal Government later created the United States Sanitary Commission with a mandate to fight against preventable diseases and infections by improving hygiene in camps and hospitals. The nurses moved from one hospital to another, caring for the sick, injured, and dying soldiers.
Some educated women became school teachers. Before the Civil War started, fewer than thirty percent of teachers in North Carolina were women, but as the War drew to a close, more than half of the schools in the state were presided upon by women.
These courageous women played many roles during the Civil War. They did not wait for the men in their lives to return from the War front. Instead, women supported the war effort by working as nurses, aides, etc. Others who wanted to do more took a more upfront approach and covertly enlisted in the army or served as scouts and smugglers.
Regardless of their duties, these new roles redefined their traditional roles as mothers and homemakers, making them a significant part of the war effort.
