Women's Roles in the Civil War

Even though 14 percent of the military`s 1.4 million are women, they are still asking to fight on the front line (Harris 1). Women should fight in combat situations because they have changed people`s mind about war and everyone is given an equal chance; however many women cannot meet requirements set by men. Women have changed people`s ideas on war for the past two centuries of American history. “People are realizing females have contributed to the war in Iraq and Afghanistan,” stated Professor Megan Mackenzie (Harris 2). Although women are not fighting on the front lines, they help in many different ways in the military such as being nurses and women Air force Service Pilots.

"Women of Steel." LIFE. LIFE Magazine, n.d. Web. 14 May 2014.

Women of the Civil War Women may have been little recognized for their contributions to the war effort, but they were not untouched (Civil War Women). The women of the Civil War held many jobs and contributed greatly to the war. Loreta Velazquez disguised herself as a Confederate soldier and Rose O’Neal Greenhow was a spy for the Confederates and Louisa May Alcott was a nurse for the Union soldiers. During the Civil War, women disguise themselves as men to help the war efforts. They disguised themselves for many reasons including: to fight for their country, to fight for their rights, to fight along side their husbands (A, B, C.) Loreta Velazquez was one of many women soldiers, she disguised herself as a soldier when her husband left for war and did not take her (Chang 50).

Thousands from both the Confederacy and the Union joined volunteer brigades and signed up to be nurses. This war forced woman of both sides into the public life. ("History.Com"). And this happened to be the first time in American History that women were involved with the war plus it expanded the thought of “True womanhood.” ("History.Com"). The women of the Confederacy gained many new duties and responsibilities even the wealthiest of the Southern woman got involved.

Women played a crucial role during World War II, both with the production of war materials, and keeping our country from sliding back into a depression. Since the 1940s, women have continued to struggle to prove that they can do the same jobs that a male worker can do, and should get paid the same amount for it. Equal pay for women has continued to be an intensely debated subject since World War II, when women stepped up to fill the void in the workforce that men left behind when they courageously fought to defend our country. As scores of men left the country, they left behind massive gaps in the United States workforce. The government noticed this problem, and drafted their infamous Rosie the Riveter posters (A&E Television Networks).

In the book Women in the Civil War, by Mary Massey, the author tells about how American women had an impact on the Civil War. She mentioned quite a few famous and well-known women such as, Dorothea Dix and Clara Barton, who were nurses, and Pauline Cushman and Belle Boyd, who were spies. She also mentioned black abolitionists, Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth, feminist Susan B. Anthony, and many more women. Massey talks about how the concept of women changed as a result of the war. She informed the readers about the many accomplishments made by those women.

During the American Civil War, "More than twenty thousand women in the Union and Confederate states engaged in relief work…” (Schultz, 2004). These women had certain professional rights and responsibilities to uphold throughout the Civil War. They broke the common Victorian American tradition and volunteered to be Civil War nurses, something that astounded the nation (USAHEC.org). These battle aids nursed the wounded soldiers and performed other tasks to help the soldiers. However, these women were not accepted right away by male doctors in the hospitals.

Now women are found on the fronts lines. Also, during World War II, women who were nurses at Pearl Harbor came into a combat situation in which they were to engage and kill the enemy (Manilla Bulletin). An increase of women in the military has impacted the military by having different job roles, expanding military positions, and increasing more sexual assaults. The first reason women affect the military is their roles. Women in combat have served as long as men have and for many years have not been treated as equally as the men.

11 Mar. 2014. "Rosie the Riveter." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d.

These women went to work in paying jobs that were usually for men. Some women supported the war and became journalists, photographers, nurses and broadcasters. They were covering the biggest story ever, the men that were at war and the women that were at home doing the man’s work. Other women even joined the military. They were not put in front line positions,but they did important jobs like spies, nursing, making guns’ bayonets and aircrafts parts.