The Civil War and Southern Women

Paper Summary:

This paper introduces, discusses, and analyzes two chapters from the book, "Mothers of Invention: Women of the Slaveholding South in the American Civil War" by Drew Gilpin Faust. Specifically, the paper explains how the instabilities of the Civil War South forced Southern white women to alter their behavior.

From the Paper:

"The South, being at a distinct disadvantage for most of the Civil War, sent as many able-bodied men as they possibly could to the fighting front. Women had to step in and run the farms and plantations in their men's' absence, and this included managing an increasingly volatile slave population. Historian Faust notes, "Women called to manage increasingly restive and even rebellious slaves were in a significant sense garrisoning a second front in the South's war against Yankee domination" (Faust 54). Obviously, this was a new and different role for most of these women, and many of the men left behind in the South did not appreciate or value it. In fact, many of them fought against female management, as Faust notes, "These issues went beyond questions of gender; they represented deep-seated worries about sex" (Faust 55). The key issue facing most of these women forced into unfamiliar roles was fear. They felt incapable of managing a large group of slaves, and some of them even feared for their safety and their lives."

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