Women's Roles
The above video describes how women's roles changed tremendously throughout the war effort, noting that they were required to fill many positions previously reserved for men. This influx of women into new spheres was not one by one, but rather collective as the war turned the tide on the home front and prompted people, especially women, to put themselves in different shoes.
Prior to the Civil War, women in the South had rather private lives. Most of their responsibilities revolved around home and family life. Southern women were to be moral and religious, upholding and honoring the ideals of their families relentlessly. Naturally, they carried these duties into the Civil War as well as the post-war period of Reconstruction. However, the duties women were tasked with throughout the war became much more public. This was a new field for the women which they accepted as a challenge to further defend the honor of their families and beliefs. This is reflected in the steadfast work of women all over the country during and after the American Civil War. Unfortunately, the issue of race played a prominent role in the beliefs of those residing in the Confederacy.
Women acted as nurses, teachers, spies, soldiers, supply aids, etc. while also maintaining life on the home front.
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Following the war, elite women used their new public positions to focus on persuading the public of the South's benevolence and honor. They formed organizations which propelled them into the public sphere as a group rather than individually where they would lobby their cause in the attempt to recreate the antebellum stratum of society that they desperately missed. The ladies involved in memorial groups definitely knew the power of strength in numbers.
