Women During The Civil War Essay

The American Civil War had an impact on everyone in the country. Women were no exception. Phelps defines Civil War by saying, “Civil war exists when two or more opposing parties within a country resort to arms to settle a conflict or when a substantial portion of the population takes up arms against the legitimate government of a country.” Many people today do not realise the effect that women had on this war. Without them, the war could have had a very different outcome. Women held an array of different jobs at this time. The women were tired of sitting on the sidelines, they wanted to stand up for the beliefs they had. There was now more of having other people fight for them, they were going to get what they deserved. They broke free of the chains of conformity that bound them to their simple jobs. They would range anywhere from staying at home and tending t the farm to dressing up like men and actually fighting. Equal to the men, although not always seen as it, women held an array of different jobs during the civil war.

The first job that women held during the Civil War, was to encourage their family
Many women and other citizens joined together to for the U.S. Sanitary Commision. Williams explains the U.S. Sanitary Commision as, “Church congregations, ladies aid societies and groups of all kinds volunteered to make and collect goods for soldiers in the field.” In 1861 in New York, the ladies began an effort to create an effective system of collection and distribution. They worked on gather the items that were in need, and distributing them to the places that needed them. The U.S. Sanitary commision was the forerunner of the American Red Cross. They supplied the troops with everything they needed so they could defend what they were fighting for. Undoubtedly, the women during the Civil War supplied the troops with everything that they