Behind the Lines: Women of the Civil War

During the Civil War there were many opportunities for women to take up work and responsibilities that reached outside their everyday life. Many exceptional women decided to take on these responsibilities and venture outside the infamous "Sphere of Domesticity." This limiting Sphere included all the jobs women were expected to do such as cook, clean, raise their children, take care of the house and family, make clothes and be a good and faithful wife to their husband. This was the way for thousands of years. Clearly it was a big deal when women started to branch out beyond this sphere.

Dorothea Dix was one of the Civil War's new women. She was a nurse in hospitals during the war. Typically, this was a usual job for a women working in the war. However, she took on a position of major power. She organized the hospitals and doctors and was in charge of almost everyone who worked at her hospital. She was even ordering male doctors around. Women never held positions of power, so this was way beyond anything within the "Sphere of Domesticity." Another woman that was famous for her work during the Civil War was Rose O'Neal Greenhow. Working for the Confederate army, she used her feminine charm to attain information from the Union soldiers. She was one of the best and most well-known spies of her time. The information she attained was so valuable to the South, that she was highly respected and, at the time of her death, they held an elaborate funeral to honor her name. There were more spies just like her such as Belle Boyd. Occasionally, women who followed their husbands during the wars would cook and act as a nurse at army camps. However, they often wanted to do more and make a larger impact, so they decided to dress as a man and act as a soldier during the war. While some incredible women acted outside the "Sphere of Domesticity"during the war, others remained in it and managed to help their side.

The Cleveland Ladies Aid Society stayed at home and continued to take care of their children. All the while, they were gathering food and clothes and supplies to send to soldiers in care packages. On occasion, they were known to steal in order to attain these goods, but  they didn't do anything particularly unladylike. They continued to care for their families and run the household while they helped the soldiers. Other women would nurse in camps and hospitals. They didn't take on any leading positions, thus maintaining their roles inside the sphere.

Our class used a website called "Padlet" to show examples of what some specific, important women of the Civil War did and if she was within our outside the circle of domesticity. In groups we read articles about a certain women. We then drew a picture or collage of pictures that captured the important things about the woman and what she did. We took a quote from the article we read that we felt described the woman and we also briefly summarized who she was and her importance in the war. The following image is a small screenshot of part of the Padlet Wall.