Clara Barton's Role In The Civil War Analysis

Between the years 1861 to 1865, the United States divided into two nations, the North and the South. The American Civil War was a four years’ war between the North and the South. The two nations fought for what they claimed right. One of the main contributing factors to the Civil War was slavery. During the 1850s, the North and the South argued about slavery and as they kept quarreling, it eventually led up to the secession of the South. The South seceded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America due to the disagreement between the two. Consequently, historians considered the Civil War was the most deadly war in American history as more than 600,000 soldiers from both Union and Confederate army died fighting for their beliefs.

Some gained a sense of duty and wanted to help out in the war. These efforts greatly aided in the Union’s favor of the war. Clarissa “Clara” Harlowe Barton, the founder of American Red Cross and a famous women figure in American history, aided the Union army in the Civil War and transformed the way the medical practitioners treat patients to what it is now today. Clara Barton was born in Oxford, Massachusetts in 1821. In 1861, Barton volunteered at the Washington Infirmary to nurse the wounded Union soldiers. By the end of the year, she left the infirmary to treat soldiers on the battlefield. During in time of desperate needs, Barton delivered many supply wagons and administered care along with the overworked field surgeons. With the progress of women aiding the soldiers in the war drastically progressing, organizations such as the Women’s Central Association of Relief, raised money and delivered supplies to the Union army. A relief group, organized by Barton, carried out first aid, food and water for the soldiers in camps and on the battlefield. Barton traveled to various Union camps over the time span of the Civil war, tending the sick and wounded. She was known as the “Angel of the Battlefield” for her services. After the Civil War, Barton became in charge of finding and identify missing men. Several years later, Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross in 1880 after visiting Europe. She is one of America’s most important women figures in American