Compare and contrast the roles played by women who remained at home in the north and south during the civil war. . And explain the actions and...

Women in both the North and South played active parts in
the war; primarily to tend to the home while the man of the house was away at war. They
were the school teachers, farmers, store keepers, and plant workers; all jobs performed
by men before the war. Women on both sides were actively involved as nurses as well as
in sewing uniforms and raising money and supplies for the
troops.

Among the more famous women who participated on the
Northern side were Dorothea Dix who served as a nurse and later was prominent in the
campaign for reform of the treatment of the mentally ill; and Clara Barton, who was the
first Superintendent of Women Nurses and later was instrumental in founding the American
Red Cross.  A rather sad story about Ms. Barton illustrates the horrors of war. At
Antietam, she was tending to a wounded soldier when a bullet tore through the sleeve of
her dress and killed the soldier. Such is war.

Many women
in the South had a difficult time dealing with domestic chores. Few served as nurses,
and few could sew, knit or cook, as these were considered menial chores to be performed
by slaves. More than one white woman was murdered by slaves when the master was away at
war. Such killings were largely the result of cruelty by the white woman directed at
slaves, particularly if the white mistress suspected her husband of an illicit
relationship with a female slave. She could not punish him, so she vented her anger on
the poor slave who took revenge when the opportunity presented
itself.

On both sides, the roles of women within the home
was changed forever by the war. Having been forced to assume such great responsibilities
during the war, many were reluctant to returning to the dutiful and submissive wife role
she had previously occupied. Their participation in the war gave fuel to the women's
rights movement.

By far the greatest contribution of women
on both sides of the war was sending their husbands and sons into battle, many of whom
did not return. One mother from North Carolina lost seven sons at the Battle of
Gettysburg. The authenticity of Lincoln's famous letter to Ms. Bixby has come into
question recently; but it illustrates the supreme contribution of so many women who were
left only with

readability="7">

[T]he cherished memory of the loved and lost, and
the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice on the altar of
liberty.