ipl-logo

Northern And Southern Women During The Civil War Essay

716 Words3 Pages

The Civil War opened up the field of nursing to women, breaking down yet another barrier of the strict gender roles placed on women during the nineteenth century. Women from both the North and the South joined the Civil War as both nurses and “matrons”. The comparison of the way Faust presents Northern and Southern women in the book Mothers of Inventions, lends insight on the similarities and differences between Union and Confederate nurses.
According to Faust, Florence Nightingale influenced both Northern and Southern women decision to join nursing during the Civil War (pg 92). Florence Nightingale led a team of nurses, which improved the unsanitary conditions at a British military hospital, during the Crimean War. The patriotism of Florence Nightingale influenced both Northern and Southern women in a similar way. For both Northern and Southern women, Lawrence Nightingale represented a woman who was doing more than just sitting on the sidelines of war waiting for the husband to come home. …show more content…

According to Faust (pg.111), the legacy of northern nurses is greater than that of Southern nurses. There are many reasons why the legacy of Northern nurses lived on while the Southern nurses lay in the shadows of history. When one side of a major conflict wins, their side of history persists over the other. When the North won the legacy of nurses like Dorothea Dix persisted over the legacy of southern nurses like Cummings. Furthermore, after the war, Northerners established schools for nursing, but not the south. The devastation of the war caused Southerners to rebuild their lives and their homes leaving very little time, want, and need for building nursing schools. In addition, many Southern women reverted into the family life of the South, leaving very few who wanted to become

Show More
Related
1365 Words | 6 Pages

The Civil War, fought mostly by men, is often referred to as the war of brother against brother. Although there were a few women who engaged in the battles alongside the men, the number was very small and their direct contribution to battle was probably not very significant. This is not to say that women were not important to the Civil War. Women were very influential in the national crisis and their contributions were arguably just as important as the male soldier’s on the battlefield. On both sides of the war, women employed their strength, intelligence, and compassion in the critical roles of abolitionists, civil right’s advocates, nurses and spies.

Read More
93 Words | 1 Pages

The North took the main cause of why the Reconstruction was failed in the South. I believed it was failed in the south because the North was not focused on South and all its problems. The Second reason was the North was very focused on the South not having political power that they didn’t focus on other problems in the South like the KKK. The KKK affected a big part on how the reconstruction failed, it was there there plan to kill the reconstruction. The North lost interest and focused on government issues.

Read More
236 Words | 1 Pages

Although, the North is often portrayed as the “good guys” when it comes to the fall of Reconstruction but in actuality they were equally as guilty as the south was. According to Document C In the 1870s, the people of the north were beginning to grow indifferent to the events happening in the south because their focus shifted to the scandals going on around them, such as the Panic of 1873.The government at this time in the North was ran by “carpetbaggers” or a political candidate who sought election in an area they had no local connections to. The North began to grow tired of this type of government and they also began to become tired of fighting against discrimination in the south because of this. Increased anger about government corruption lead to less interest in Reconstruction. Racism still existed in the North and contributed to the fall as well, for example many people believed that people of color were unfit to be government officials.

Read More
2737 Words | 11 Pages

The Civil War was a defining moment in the history of the United States. It is well known that many men served and died as soldiers, but women also played an important role in winning the war and supporting the men. Northern women as well as Southern women served our country as spies, nurses, and secret soldiers. As spies, some women went undercover to find new information to provide to the sergeants. As nurses, women would help to cure wounded soldiers and take care of them in the infirmaries located at the bases.

Read More
530 Words | 3 Pages

Women in the South during the antebellum times were viewed in an idealized way. These views though brought together and divided women in a few ways. During this time marriage and having a family were important parts of life. Women were expected to marry when they were of age. These expectations shifted based on the women’s social class and race during this time.

Read More
1655 Words | 7 Pages

From the dawn of the United States, there were clear sectional differences in the county. The South had slaves and the North did not. The North had mercantilism and the South had agriculture. The founding fathers had the chance to vastly change these differences by abolishing slavery in the Constitution, but they feared the Constitution not being ratified by the Southern states. These differences, while at the time, may have seemed small, gave our country two unique economies.

Read More
838 Words | 4 Pages

Breckinridge’s devotion to the people of leslie county was infinite, and she did anything in her power to provide care. “They traveled on horseback and on foot to provide quality prenatal and childbirth care in the clients' own homes, functioning as both midwives and family nurses.” (Castlenovo). She and other nurses in the nursing service would travel by foot and on a horse through the rough terrain of the Appalachian Mountains just to care for their patients. The nurses helped with primary care as well as midwives in a place where there are no physicians to be found.

Read More
1200 Words | 5 Pages

Important Women and their Role in the Civil War The American Civil war lasted for four years from 1861-1865. The war occurred because of a controversy on differences of beliefs, with the primary reason being slavery and state’s rights. The war resulted in the killing of over 600,000 soldiers. The war had a lot of advances in American culture.

Read More
1035 Words | 5 Pages

The Reconstruction Era occurred in 1865, it was was a period after the Civil War in which America was focused on rebuilding the broken South. In 1867, the Radical reconstruction gave former slaves a voice in government. During this era, formers slaves gained a platform in the government, with some blacks as Congressmen. However, not everyone supported the idea of Reconstruction. Less than a decade after the Reconstruction period, a small group composed of democratic ex-confederate veterans, white farmers and white southerners sympathetic to white supremacy joined forces together to form the Ku Klux Klan.

Read More
606 Words | 3 Pages

Justin Lau (Wingkit) Professor Rogers History 100AC 29 September 2015 Response Paper: “The Women Is as Bad as the Men- Women 's Participation in the Inner Civil War.” , “General Benjamin Butler and the threat of Sexual Violence during the American Civil War”, “General Butler and the Women” and “The Other Side of the Freedom” A lot of North Carolina women showed uncooperative actions on the disorderliness by participating the protest in order to maintain their communities and social orders. These women would prefer to join the conflict that separated state and community rather than being its victims. Thus, their loyalties to husbands and sons, and strong determination of protecting their own property prompted them to disregard the female’s conventional behaviors.

Read More
466 Words | 2 Pages

“Nursing is an art:” said founder of nursing Florence Nightingale, “and if it is to be made an art, it requires an exclusive devotion as hard a preparation, as any painter’s or sculptor’s work.” Nursing, a profession that has been around since the 1800, is devoted to the care of patients wherein by they restore and promote health. Chapter three and four of Kathryn McPherson’s work Caregiving on the Periphery presents an effective portrayal of early 20th century nursing through influential nurses such as Myra Bennett and Hannah Grier. Myra Bennett, a nurse in who took up practice in Newfoundland, brought to her rural community her skill as both a nurse and midwife . Hannah Grier, a nurse who worked during the Northwest Rebellion, provided effective

Read More
608 Words | 3 Pages

“ Have gender roles really changed in the South” is a question that many people still ask themselves today. The gender roles have really changed in the south, but not as much as it has changed in the large culture of the United States. The roles have not been drastically changed for women in the south, but they have been updated on things women can do and wear. For instance, a traditional role of women use to be clean cook and take care of the house, but now for most women they can have a career and their husband can be a stay at home dad. I as a woman of the south believe roles have changed, but not as much as they have changed in the large culture of the United States.

Read More
506 Words | 3 Pages

In the mid-1800s, as America was growing, socially, and economically, there was a higher demand for nurses due to people getting hurt more often. During the Civil War of 1861 many soldiers, from both the Union and the south, were traumatically injured. An Abundance of nurses were needed to compensate the massive number of patients. One African American woman had a passion for people and the drive to make a difference. Mary Eliza Mahoney was born May 7, 1845.

Read More
1782 Words | 8 Pages

Although men played a physical role in combat, women’s role were also significantly important as well because if men were cars, women would be their fuel. With the support from men and women, the War would run more smoothly. Smoothly, not necessarily winning, but without the help of women, every single person would die, including the women. Working together means that the soldier strives to fight for his life and not give up, while the nurse hopes she could save as many life as possible and make a difference. Ultimately, the book closes.

Read More
352 Words | 2 Pages

There are several inequalities that exist in an organized social system. People of color, the poor, uneducated, women, and individuals who face disabilities have regularly gone voiceless and powerless all through history, and their battles continue today. These gatherings of individuals are disregarded and face oppression, prejudice, discrimination, and abuse. Nursing, an occupation majorly populated by women, is no different.

Read More

More about Northern And Southern Women During The Civil War Essay

Related Topics

Open Document