Change and Continuity in the Experiences of Women during the Civil War

Both change and continuity from earlier patterns in the treatment of women can be seen throughout the Civil War. Whilst there is a strong sense of continuity in the harsh treatment of slaves and restriction of women’s rights, change was able to occur in terms of the roles which women could take up in society as a decrease in the number of men led women to take up traditionally masculine jobs. As before the Civil War, there was also continuity in the opinion of women that they should have rights like men, and continuity in how they attempted to peacefully have their voice heard and gain new rights such that they could live free and independent lives.

From before and throughout most of the Civil War, the harsh and cruel treatment towards slaves as well as the exploitation against women continued to be commonplace, revealing one aspect of continuity in the treatment of women during the Civil War. As can be seen from Harriet Jacob’s “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl,” where Jacobs describes that “there is no shadow of law to protect her [a slave girl] from insult, from violence, or even from death,” it is clear that the attitudes of master’s (and in general, the Southern white population) towards slaves – especially slave women – has not changed from what it was like before the Civil War. Before the Civil War, slaves in the south were seen as creatures who could be exploited for their work, and female slaves often received even harsher treatment than male slaves. Since slaves were very expensive to buy, many slave women and teens were forced to have children who would also later become slaves. The violence expressed towards women and the fact that they were forced to have children before and during the Civil War expresses continuity in their cruel treatment. Attitudes which men had towards women and the rights which women had also experienced continuity during the Civil War. As is expressed in a “Letter from a Philadelphia Wife,” the women have made many compromises during the war (in this case, the Revolutionary War) as expressed by the quote “I have retrenched every superfluous expense in my table and family” but receive no freedom in return. Although they, like the men, must work hard during the war effort, they feel underappreciated, and they were not granted the same freedoms and rights as men. A similar pattern could be seen in the Civil War, in which women helped greatly in the war effort (such as by serving as nurses for injured soldiers) but still did not receive many basic rights, inclusive of the right to vote. This underappreciation of women, and the fact that they were denied of their rights, expresses continuity and connects with the continuity in the cruel and violent treatment of slave girls and women before and throughout the Civil War.

Although the appreciation for women did not experience change, the war effort allowed there to be a rapid increase in tasks which women could take up. As many men left their wives and families to join the Civil War on both the Union and Confederate sides, women had to fill up previously masculine-dominated roles. Jobs including those as teachers and in factories suddenly relied on more women than before, but many women also became essential parts of the actual war effort itself. Benjamin Butler’s letter to Simon Cameron clearly expresses the essential role which women filled in the war effort, as is seen from the quote “The women were earning substantially their own subsistence in washing, marketing, and taking care of the clothes of the soldiers.” With the actual battles themselves being the sole occupation for many men, women’s roles changed from those largely confined to domestic help to being involved in jobs to keep cities running and to help soldiers, such as as nurses. The very large numbers of female nurses during the war indicates that the women were quick and responsive to change in the roles which they played in society with the onset of the war, both on the North and the South sides – although more women became involved in tasks out of their traditional domestic roles in the North.

Continuity can be observed in that women continued to attempt to win rights in similar methods, and received similar negative responses from most men, before the Civil War and during the Civil War. In Grimké’s “Appeal to Christian Women of the South” she expresses the issue of a lack of women’s rights when she states that society should “no longer” “subject woman to the scourge and the chain.” This source echoes a belief which was held by many women (like Grimké) who protested the fact that they were denied basic rights. Before and during the Civil War, this movement remained, since it would not be before a long time that women would gain the vote and other essential freedoms and liberties. In addition, the method used by women to try to gain their rights was very much peaceful. As is seen in Grimké’s appeal, the method of trying to convince people about women’s rights should be a peaceful one. This idea of the women’s rights movement being peaceful experienced relative continuity before and during the Civil War. The “Declaration of Sentiments” clearly portrays not only the women’s rights movement, but also shows how it was dealt with in terms of its peaceful nature. The text includes phrases such as “He has taken from her all right in property, even to the wages she earns,” which emphasize the idea that the protest for their rights remained peaceful and objective. Instead of bringing in threats or opinions, this declaration was created by women in order to clearly state the offenses against their gender which they feel must be mended. The document, unlike other civil rights movements, does not threaten violence. The similarity between both documents in their peaceful nature (and the fact that the women’s rights movement endured along similar strands before and throughout the Civil War) clearly frames it as a movement that experienced continuity. Although it still had many followers before and during the Civil War, it was continuously largely ignored by male populations despite its strong arguments for the rights of women. Only much later would women be given the right to vote and other liberties which made them finally equal to men (at least in theory).

In conclusion, experiences which women had changed in some ways but were continuous in others from before the Civil War to the end of the war. Although women and slaves (especially female slaves) were denied their true liberties, many women were empowered by the war effort to take up roles out of their traditional place in the social order, and the women’s rights movement continued to be developed, continued to use similar techniques and continued to be largely ignored before and during the Civil War. Although women were able to step out of their domestic roles during the Civil War due to the movement of soldiers, their legal rights and discrimination against them experienced continuity, in that they were still treated as inferior by society and the law for a long time to come, even following their heroic acts in the war and long nonviolent efforts at achieving their rights.