Women During The Civil War - 1400 Words

The Civil War has often been referred to as the war between brothers, but when the war started women were still expected to stay at home and take care of the house and children, with little to no income. Many stories that originated from the Civil War talk about the battlefront and not the home front. This leaves us wondering what the spouses of the soldiers did to survive, especially if they had multiple children in the home. We do not know what women did during the war and if they had any impact whatsoever. Comparing Charleston and Philadelphia, which were the second largest cities in their respective areas at the time, it seems that Philadelphia women would have more of an impact on the war than the women in Charleston. Why†¦show more content†¦These two cities played major roles in the war whether it was Charleston’s port or Philadelphia’s infamous â€Å"refreshment saloons† both cities had a lot to offer to the soldiers during the war. Mary Chesnut writes a diary following accounts of multiple Southern cities, and shows how women in Charleston were greatly affected during the war. Mary Ashhurst shares her memories of the war and how they affected her daily routine for years. Many women on both sides dedicated most of their day to making garments for soldiers. Both of these cities had so much to offer during the Civil War, though Charleston was very prominent because of Fort Sumter, Philadelphia was overlooked in the history books. We know that Charleston had a port and Philadelphia was landlocked except for the Delaware River. Because of these two water resources, it makes both of these cities very important to their respective sides. What was the South like during the war? Life in the South was more difficult than the North. During the war, the Confederate States of America consisted of eleven Southern states that seceded from the Union in the early 1860’s. In the South, if you owned more than twenty slaves you didn’t have to fight in the war. Fighting for the idea of independence and a way of life based on slavery, many Southerners were for the idea of war. The Union had blockaded many of the ports in the South, which caused shortages of food and other necessities for those in the Southern