The HomeFront: Women and the Civil War

The roles women played during the Civil War have only recently been given the same respect as famous generals and battles. If we look in the context of this time period, the woman was considered the light of the hearth and home. Upon her fell the duty of managing the home, bearing and teaching the children and in the rural communities they would run the farms and plantations as well.

Etiquette manuals tell us that a lady could not leave the house without a gentleman escort. When the war broke out the entire sphere of the woman’s world changed. With fathers, husbands, sons and brothers going off to join the ranks, women had to adapt and change their way of thinking in order to survive. Keep in mind that at this time, a woman could not vote, or sign contracts. The woman’s heart beat responsive to the call of war. While she could not still remain a lady and take up arms and fight, there were many things she could do to support the cause. They became nurses, laundresses, spies, vivandiere’s, Sanitary and Christian Commission workers, and writers for newspapers for example. For specific information about famous women of the Civil War era, the American Civil War website (http://americancivilwar.com/women/women.html) has some very detailed information about famous woman like Harriet Beecher Stowe and Clara Barton.

The topic of civilian life leads it perfectly to a fairly recent educational technology known as a Webquest. A WebQuest is defined, by Bernie Dodge at San Diego State University, as "an inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all of the information that learners interact with comes from resources on the Internet" (Dodge, 1997). WebQuests are perfect models for teachers for are searching for ways in which to incorporate the Internet into the classroom on both a short-term and long-term basis. When selecting a WebQuest, make sure that you examine the WebQuest closely and evaluate it in terms of your expectations for content coverage/goals, academic rigor, ease of use and interactivity. Other factors to consider when selecting a Webquest include making sure you check for broken hyperlinks, deciding how much of the Webquest to use and knowing how much time is required to complete a given Webquest. The Civil War Herald WebQuest (http://www.coollessons.org/civilwarpaper.htm) allows students to take on the task of designing a Civil War era newspaper. While researching “articles” for the paper, students learn about numerous topics including famous women, different roles women played during the war, life on the home front, the political climate of the time, other famous people of the period, health and technology and finally new about the war. This WebQuest also includes a teacher’s section with tips on how to implement the WebQuest, standards addressed, assessment information and how to customize the lesson to fit individual teacher requirements.

UPDATE: I recently found this blog on Civil War Woman. The description of the blog indicates that it contains bios and stories of women of the Civil War era.
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References:

Dodge, Bernie. (1997). Some Thoughts About Wequests. Retrieved March 28, 2005 from http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/edtec596/about_webquests.html

Brozik, Lana, Kaup, Kathleen, Levine, Richard. (2002). Civil War Herald WebQuest. Retrieved April 1, 2005 from the World Wide Web: (http://www.coollessons.org/civilwarpaper.htm)

The American Civil War Website. (n.d.) Women of the American Civil War Era. Retrieved April 1, 2005 from the World Wide Web: http://americancivilwar.com/women/women.html