The Impact of the Civil War on Womens Rights Essay -- Womens Rights

I do not wish them wowork force to have power over men but over themselves. Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman after(prenominal) four years of seemingly endless battle between a divided earth, more than 600,000 people were killed. These lives, however, were not given in vain. Had it not been for the American polite contend, abolition may not have been carried out. The nation might have remained divided. Women might have remained confined to their roles as the homemakers. Although the Civil struggle was fought in hopes of preserving the nation and ridding it of slavery, another war raged on inside the depths of this war--the womens war. Serving as nurses both in the hospital and on the battlefields, women came to fare a whole different world a world impertinent of the home. When the last gun shot was fired, women were expected to return to their roles as the housewives. Some, however, had tasted the confection of being able to hold positions equal to tha t of their male counterparts and had become addicted. In this way, the American Civil War served as a significant play point for the transformation of societal views concerning working women-particularly those in the field of nursing. forward to the Civil War, it was believed that a womans place was in the home. Societal views held that women were to be the homemakers, succession the occupations in the outside world were to be left to the men. It was an age when women were prefer as angels rather than amazons, homemakers rather than careerists (Donald & Randall 19). A womans intelligent status was strung-out on that of her father or husband, depending on whether she was married or not. As a result, a woman could not make any legal appearances in court or sign any legal papers... ...ar and Reconstruction. D.C. wellness and Company Boston,1965.McPherson, James M. Ordeal By Fire The Civil War and Reconstruction, Second Edition. Princeton University McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1992.Moore, Frank. Women of the War Their Heroism and Self-Sacrifice. Hartford, Connecticut S.S. Scranton & Co., 1866.Negro Emancipation, Harpers Weekly journal of Civilization, January 10, 1863, p. 18.The Bombardment of Fort Sumter, Harpers Weekly Journal of Civilization, April 27, 1861, p. 1.Thompson, William F. Image of War The graphical Reporting of the American Civil War. Louisiana State University Press billy Rouge and London, 1960.Volo, Dorothy Denneen and Volo, James M. Daily Life in Civil War America. Greenwood Press Westport, Connecticut and London,1998.Wright, Mike. What They Didnt Teach You About the Civil War. Presido Press, 1996.