Civil War: The Women 's Role
Many people were grateful for the contributions of women in the war. Many of the women did serve as nurses to take care of the injured. Women of the North and South volunteered to work as nurses. As soon as the war began many women wanted to become nurses to help. In those days it was considered proper for women to take care of men even if they were strangers. Most women were affected by the war in some way that they worked with many organizations. Some women would just contribute by knitting socks for soldiers to keep their feet warm. Even the older women would contribute their time and donating needed items to local organizations such as churches and nearby hospitals. Younger women were more interested in helping
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Some women were even spies because men would not suspect a woman to be in such a dangerous job so they would go undetected easily. Women spies gathered information about enemy plans, troop size, and supplies on scraps of paper or even fabric and sew them to blouses, coats or even roll them in their hair. Smuggling goods such as morphine, ammunition, and weapons they would just attach them to their hoop skirts, hide them in baskets, or even in dolls. Some thought they were also great to be spies because of their beauty would leave the soldiers with their guard down. Women spies would often eavesdrop during dinner parties, balls, though friends and connections. They often did not realize the chance for them to commit espionage. Men and women were punished differently for espionage, men would be imprisoned or executed usually by hanging. Women were rarely executed they were usually imprisoned or deported to Canada or to the South. As soldiers caught on to women spies it did become harder and harder for them to cross enemy lines without being searched or apprehended. Many times women soldiers were caught due to their unladylike behavior, women spies would allow men into their homes late at night, arrange meetings with men at different
Women were place in forts by high-ranking officers to watch over the soldiers while they are sleep. On top of all of this they worked in houses as cooks as well as nursemaids and laundresses. In this war women took jobs doing war work while the men were
Some soldiers were embarrassed having to admit they needed the women around, so they excluded the women to make themselves feel more
Not only were men fighting the war but women were also helping the fight either from the bases or the home front. Some women like Nancy Wake fought
These spies went undetected during the early phases of the war because they were expected to be part of such a dangerous role. To be a woman spy during this time period required bravery, determination, and strength. One of the many things they did to successfully help, was mainly gather important information about the enemy’s plan, troop size, fortifications and supplies on scraps of paper or fabric and sewed them into blouses nad petticoats or rolled them into their hair . As well as collecting private insite, they also were assigned to the smuggling of goods, mainly including morphine and ammunition or weapons. They would do so by attatching them to the frame of their hoop skirts or would also hide them in baskets, packages, and even dolls (Brooks np).
Nursing Among the most important roles played by women was nursing (Perica 5). Most of the women during this time of war acted as nurses. Although the women nurses were not much utilized in the early days of the war, their role as nurses became more acknowledged in 1777. Most of the women who acted as nurses were initially camp followers.
Although not quite as common, women entered ranks as spies and formed their own militia groups to engage in direct combat. Women took on important courier work often because men aroused too much suspicion. Women were entrusted with transporting extremely sensitive information that if found, meant that Nazi soldiers could arrest, interrogate, and even kill the courier for being in possession of (Women). Women like Dr. Genevieve Congy, rode bicycles to transport intelligence messages, including maps indicating military deployment and resistance networks and their heads (Women). Stories of acts of defiance and bravery are the stuff of legends in the history of the French Resistance, and many women joined spy rings and were eagerly welcomed into clandestine networks because they were considered to have “the best disguise”--being women (Women)!
During the Civil War, women spies were very successful at their jobs for a great deal of reasons. They were perfect for the role of spy because women were easily trusted and viewed as non-threatening by soldiers who, would often let their guard down around them. Men didn’t expect women would get involved in such a dangerous job, so women spies often went undetected during the early part of the Civil War. Women often gathered information about the enemy’s plans, troop size, fortifications and supplies on scraps of paper or fabric and then sewed them into their blouses or rolled them into their hair. If they were to smuggle goods such as morphine, ammunition or weapons, they often attached them to the frame of their hoop skirts or hid them in baskets and inside dolls.
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).
Women were viewed as the weaker sex. They were thought to be fragile and dependent. Gender roles were strictly divided with the woman placed firmly in the home, in charge of domestic tasks and childcare. However, when their husbands, sons, fathers and brothers joined the military during the Civil War, many women obtained new roles at home. Others decided to assist the war effort as nurses, spies and even soldiers.
A female becoming a soldier or a spy or any kind of person that helped throughout these battles was unheard of. But there were so many women that did, some disguised and some not. The role that women held in the American
Women of the Union often opened aid’s for soldiers and other helpful organization
Before WWI, women were restricted to traditionally feminine jobs. Their work was considered inferior and they were paid less than men. However, once WWI began, women were able to integrate themselves into a variety of different workforces. Since most men were off to serve in the military and navy, women that stayed behind replaced their positions in factories and other industries. Other women worked closely with the military as nurses or even soldiers.
Sarah Ryan March 23, 2016 Female Spies in World War II Females were not respected during World War II but they were very successful. The use of spies grew drastically during this war because it was a great tactic for warfare. Many women got involved because women were not allowed in combat, and it was hard for females to find any sort of job in war, so women became spies to be part of the warfare. Female spies were not allowed in combat, so a spy was the perfect fit for women who wanted to be in the warfare, and they ended up being very successful. Military units would not expect a female to be working in the warfare.
Women were well suited for providing nourishment and necessities for the army due to their skills obtained by their accustomed housework. “...the American army often recruited the many female camp followers to fill these jobs” (Brooks 2013, para. 17). They had slowly began to achieve recognition in society, especially war. It was then, that woman had begun to silently “protest” on having the same equal opportunity as men. During the war, women created a role for themselves to side amongst the male soldiers: a secret soldier.
Throughout history women have constantly had fewer constitutional rights and profession openings than men, primarily because women have continuously been considered inferior to men. The working class also possessed fewer rights during the 1800s. Workers were bound to their employers and had little to no rights. As the years moved on, much of that began to change. Employed citizens had little to no voting rights, and they kept trying until they achieved what they wanted.