Women's Roles During The Civil War

The Civil War affected many lives; not only during those years but in future years to come. The war directly affected not only men, but women as well by laying the groundwork for a powerful movement demanding equal rights. By examining women’s roles during the Civil War one can conclude that by women defying “proper roles” and by ratifying the Fifteenth Amendment propelled the women’s suffrage movement into legal documents that can be freely exercised. Women abolitionists vying for the end of slavery simultaneously began the fight for equal rights.
The women’s movement first gained momentum from the very beginning of the Civil War, although the idea for equal rights had been around since 1848. Both the Union and the Confederate armies required
or any State based on their race, color, or previous servitude. This amendment, as well as engaging in activities from the Civil War like public speaking, organizing unions or activists, and petitioning motivated the women’s movement to new heights. Feminists saw this opportunity to seek and fight for the same protection and equal rights that had been granted to slaves. However, “The Fifteenth Amendment ignored women… Stanton and Anthony denounced suffrage for black men only, and Stanton now supported her position on racial grounds… [Stanton] argued that white, educated women should certainly have the same rights as immigrant and African American men.” (Hewitt, pg. 438). The amendment provided the proposition to form a women’s movement set on both sexes having equal rights since women already started to step outside their “proper sphere” by participating in the Civil War. The National Woman Suffrage Association was formed by Stanton and Anthony in opposition to the Fifteenth Amendment, and the American Woman Suffrage Association was formed in contrast from the former that supported the ratification of the amendment. Despite the arguments for equal rights aggressively proposed by Stanton and Anthony and other feminists, the amendment was ratified in 1870 and did not grant black or white women alike any right to vote. “As a result, women
Women actively defied gender roles by helping the war effort during the Civil War before the suffrage movement gained any recognition or momentum. Women started participating in the workforce, gaining experience in political activism and organization to challenge their right in the U.S. It was the cause of abolition that women started to raise their political fists against their “proper sphere.” The Women’s Rights Convention held in Seneca Falls, New York planted the groundwork for women to challenge “equal rights” in the U.S., which snowballed into countless women actively participating during the Civil War to make a difference in both abolishing slavery and equal rights. Women helped abolish slavery by participating in new roles, and coincidentally, started the women’s suffrage movement. Without the support of women abolitionists, the end of slavery or the right for women to vote might never have happened. Hundreds of thousands of voices and fists demanded women’s equal right to vote and to bring an end to slavery, and those voices are evident still