An Introduction to Women's Roles

Home Front

As men went off to war, the confederate women were forced to take on new roles in the home. On top of caring for their children, many of these women were in charge of managing and working on their plantations. The Civil War became a stepping stone toward our modern society, as women became to take new and more prominant positions in the home.

War Front 

While all able men were drafted into the war, the women began to fill in other roles. The war caused mass amounts of illness, injury, and death, leading new jobs to appear. Some women stepped up as nurses, where they provided aid to the sick and distributed suppplies to both hospitals and tents on the war front. Other women became spies. They would travel from the south to the north, interview Yankees, and collect information to help the confederate army. One of the roles a few women participated in was going to the war front and fighting. Women filled in these many roles, providing much needed support to the Confederacy. 

Women and Children

As their sons, husbands, and fathers were sent off to fight the "bluebellies," the confederate women were forced to navigate their way through this war and adopt new jobs and roles to do so. Mothers, now especially, were expected to raise glory craving men, and well behaved southern women whom therefore, would contribute to the sucessful future of the Confederacy. 

Authored by Maggie Hillin, Morgan Stokes, Lauryn Gross as part of the Missouri Scholars Academy 2023