Civil War and Reconstruction: Women's Experiences

Introduction

• Civil War and Reconstruction: Pivotal in U.S history.
• Focus on basic Civil War details and women's roles.

Overview of the Civil War

• Secession of southern states (Confederacy) from the U.S.
• Prelude: Decades of conflict over slavery.
• Trigger: Election of Abraham Lincoln (1860), leading to South Carolina's secession.
• War begins April 1861 with the Confederacy attacking Fort Sumter.
• Initial U.S. goal: Reintegrate Confederacy.
• Shift in war aims to abolishing slavery.
• Emancipation Proclamation facilitates black involvement in the military.
• Deadliest war in U.S history with massive casualties (750,000 soldiers).

Women's Roles During the Civil War

• Northern Women:
  • Engaged in manufacturing and military support.
  • Formation of soldiers' aid societies: Nursing, making supplies, fundraising.
• Southern Women:
  • Greater impact due to higher male enlistment rates.
  • Became heads of households, managed farms/plantations.
  • Severe food and supply shortages; involvement in bread riots.
  • Nursing, medical care, and fundraising.
• Women as Soldiers:
  • Estimated 400 women served by disguising as men.
  • Notable figures: Lizzie Compton, Sarah Pritchard Blaylock, Maria Lewis, and Sarah Rosetta Wakeman.

Northern Efforts: U.S Sanitary Commission

• Major institution for women's support of war.
• Responsibilities: Medical care, establishing hospitals, fundraising.
• Key figures: Dorothea Dix advocated for women in hospitals.
• Over 15,000 women served as nurses.

Development in Medical Field

• Elizabeth Blackwell and establishment of New York Infirmary.
• Rise of nursing schools alongside hospitals post-war.

Impact on Enslaved Women

• Enslaved people fleeing to refugee camps.
• Second Confiscation Act (1862); incremental freedom.
• Emancipation Proclamation (1863): Freed slaves in rebellious areas.
• Black men formed 10% of the U.S. Army; women remained in camps initially.

Conclusion

• Civil War changed women's roles significantly.
• Expansion into nursing and acceptance in medical professions.
• Southern women took on new roles outside the home.
• Enslaved women’s gradual transition towards freedom.
• Sanitary Commission's role in providing new societal roles for women.