In the nineteenth century, American women did not have the same rights as they do in today’s society. They were expected to stay at home, raise children, and keep their husbands happy. When the Civil War began, however, their roles drastically changed. Because men of both sides were going off to help with the war, there was a growing need of workers, nurses, volunteers, and even soldiers. Women were there to fill the role to support both their families and their country. When the war first began to break out, many of the women on both sides encouraged their husbands and other male family members to enlist in it. They claimed that by not fighting for their side, they would bring dishonor on their family because of their cowardness. Single women went so far as to state that they would only marry a man that had served in the war. …show more content…
These groups would raise money, gather donated items, and sew/knit clothing for the soldiers on their side. (AGSAS). These tasks were extremely in the Confederate states because for them, the war was funded solely through donations. Without the women hosting picnics, fairs, or pageants to raise money and awareness, the South would have lost much sooner. (Georgia). Northern women also formed aid societies to help. One of their most successful fundraisers was the Northwestern Sanitary Commission’s fair held in Chicago in 1863. They sold donated items, such as carrots, potatoes, pigs, dresses, jams, and even the first draft of the Emancipation Proclamation, donated to them by President Lincoln himself. They had been wanting to raise twenty-five thousand dollars; instead they raised one hundred thousand dollars, three thousand dollars of it from Lincoln’s donation alone. The fair’s outstanding success only inspired other groups to work even harder. (Courageous