Gender and the Civil War (Nathan Dunbar) by Nathan Dunbar

To what extent did the Civil War serve as a crisis in gender; how similar/different were gender roles after the war compared to before the war?

nathandunbar — 2024-06-23 17:36:52 UTC

-White Women= It made women have more say in the public sphere and it was hard to get them back in the home.

-White Men=The men had a change after the war was over and to be built up under the lost cause argument

-Black Women= Wanting to be more respectable

-Black Men= Wanting to be more respectable

-Natives= roughly the same with some converting religion but many are still getting relocated

Separate Spheres

nathandunbar — 2024-06-24 20:43:23 UTC

When Harriet and her husband are asking for their children to be born free they get denied. The Master's wife will go along with what her husband wanted. This is the idea of what it means to be a respectable women and be submissive to what her husband wishes.

Wage-Earning Women

nathandunbar — 2024-06-24 21:06:23 UTC

Women along the east coast had started to be more involved in factory positions. They would start to be seen as less respectable even with all the changes they went through to seem more respectable to the public. There were also some women who engaged in domestic service, teaching, and sex work. Most were looked down on for being outside of the home and not being what is seen as a women's job.

Native American Women Respectability

nathandunbar — 2024-06-24 21:13:46 UTC

Many Native tribes were being forcefully relocated by the Americans. This lead to tribes trying to resist but they were running out of space. Women would protest and some even converted to Christianity and took on more European women roles. Some even tried to have white men realize what they were doing to these tribes were destroying their livelihood. Native women overall were looked down on for the fact they had traditional more power than men, very different from white society.

Latina Women

nathandunbar — 2024-06-24 21:20:54 UTC

After the Mexican-American War(1848) happened, Mexican-American women who living in now American territory had their rights changed. They no longer could own property and run their own businesses. This is more of a coverture view of women. Many stereotypes were inflicted to these women to be seen as promiscuous and less than.

Coverture

nathandunbar — 2024-06-24 21:34:55 UTC

When Harriet's master dies, the property goes to his eldest son. The property did not get passed down to his wife. The wife was seen as legally dead under the law of coverture and could not own property. The new master's wife will also not have any sort of property rights once they marry either.

Slave marriages

nathandunbar — 2024-06-24 21:56:33 UTC

Slave marriages were not legally recognized and were often ignored. About 20 to 50% of couples were separated in this time. Many times they would remarry. That is what happened to Harriet when she came back to find John. Also the new woman was pregnant which would make her the legal wife of John.

Asian Women

nathandunbar — 2024-06-24 22:14:19 UTC

On the west coast, there are a lot of Asians (primarily from China) who immigrate from America. Most were not women did not come over, just their husbands. The ones that did come over, worked mostly as sex workers. Many stereotypes were given to these women. They would use these stereotypes to deny autonomy. They could combat this by working with their community.

A Honorable Death

nathandunbar — 2024-06-24 22:54:23 UTC

Harriet speaks on how men will have to come to a battlefield and die. This would be away from their families and friends to fight in a war that has to do with the wrong reasons. Until Lincoln made the U.S. Sanitary Commission and Organization, the men would be buried in these mass graves and their families would not know where they could find them.

Enslaved Women Worker

nathandunbar — 2024-06-25 00:15:35 UTC

Harriet was in the field and chopping up wood. Her sister's and nieces were in the home and were more of domestic servants. Most women and men were almost always out in the field picking cotton or whatever was out there.

Slave Families

nathandunbar — 2024-06-25 00:20:28 UTC

Harriet loss her sisters when they were sold by the master of the house. Her mother lost about half of her children after that. That was not uncommon for the time as on average around half of the family would be separated. We see Josiah threaten this when Harriet comes back for more slaves. This created these super large kinship networks.

What Black Freedom is

nathandunbar — 2024-06-25 00:32:26 UTC

Harriet talks during the climax of the movie of how her family and people will be free. This brings the idea of what black individuals would want after the war ended. The consensus was that they wanted a place to raise their family safely, to be educated, and to own private property.

Women Fighting

nathandunbar — 2024-06-25 00:39:02 UTC

Harriet lead on of the only expeditions lead by a women in American history. This is very different from the norm as often times women were not involved in the fighting. They were often seen as refugees. This is very different from what Harriet did, which would be seen as a very masculine thing to do.

Runaway Slaves

nathandunbar — 2024-06-25 00:48:29 UTC

Harriet ran away from her family to make sure that she would not be sold to somewhere else. This was a form of resistance that slaves would take up. It is resistance because you are literally stealing yourself and the property would not be there.

Enslaved Culture

nathandunbar — 2024-06-25 00:52:27 UTC

There are several instances where slave culture is shown in Harriet. We saw them sing songs in the fields and would hope for better days. The beginning of the movie shows a pastor talking about how you should respect you Masters. This is a different belief later in the movie as enslaved individuals wanted God to lead them to the promise land. Moses was a huge figure in this time and was even given to Harriet when she was helping runaways.

Enslaved Women Resistance

nathandunbar — 2024-06-25 02:06:41 UTC

Enslaved women would often times do resistance tactics against the ones that kept them in bondage. Things like manlingering and destruction of property to mess with the harvest. Also tactics like force or theft to help with their survival.

Declaration of Sentiments

nathandunbar — 2024-06-25 02:16:29 UTC

At the Seneca Fall Convention, women and some men would speak about women's issues. They created this declaration that was a lot like the Declaration of Independence. This version touched on different issues that they wanted to see changed for women. They made it like the document because they felt that this was what they were promised when America was founded.

The Second Great Awakening

nathandunbar — 2024-06-25 02:24:56 UTC

Pastors go around the country and speak/spread the word of religion. These lead to a huge spike where denominations were pulling in large numbers of people. This lead to women's roles as moral defenders to grow and women gained more influence. They could protest and try to change things for what they deemed as good in the name of Christianity.

Women's Sphere in Waiting

nathandunbar — 2024-06-25 02:28:21 UTC

After the civil war started, women's issues were put to the side in favor of the war effort. The war was literally in their own backyards and slavery was the issue that came to the forefront. Women were planning more for the postwar to really finish the job.

Idea of Womanhood at the Start of the War

nathandunbar — 2024-06-25 02:42:36 UTC

At the start, women would show their politics and support for their side. They would wear their sides colors, hold fundraisers for the war, volunteering, etc. They would also send their soldiers off by making their clothes, getting ready for defense, and celebrating them going off to fight.

Women during the War

nathandunbar — 2024-06-25 02:47:36 UTC

With the men gone fighting, women had to take up a lot of the jobs that their husband's had around the home. Women had to be both men and women of their own home. This lead in a change in how much influence some had during because someone needed to take care of the issues at home. The South even gave some property rights to women's whose husbands were off fighting. These women would then be in charge of all that goes on.

Women's Interactions with Occupying Soldiers

nathandunbar — 2024-06-25 02:58:52 UTC

As most of the fighting was in the South, these interactions were between Union soldiers and white women. They could carry contraband in occupied cities in their skirts. General Butler felt he had to do something to crush these women's patriotism because women would fight so hard for what they believed in. Women would even berate these soldiers publicly to try and get them to leave.

Women in the Workforce

nathandunbar — 2024-06-25 03:06:14 UTC

Women were starting to fill in job and try to help with the war effort. Several women helped fill the gap that was left in the teaching department and governmental clerks. Many women did become nurses which is the most document. They would try to tend and do bedside manner. Few even enlisted and became soldiers and spies. This is an expansion on what women were allowed to do outside of the home.

Violence against Native Americans

nathandunbar — 2024-06-25 03:13:20 UTC

During the war, there were instances where massacres and battles would happen. The US-Dakota war was so big that soldiers had to be called up North from the main war effort. Guerilla fighting happened a lot by Natives and it was very hard to tame. Women were a big part of this along with the riots to make sure they could eat.

Sex Work

nathandunbar — 2024-06-25 03:18:28 UTC

During the war, there was a huge spike in venereal disease for soldiers. To combat, there was the Nashville experiment. This is where sex workers would be tested for diseases and if they were found clean, they could get a license to do sex work. This is a huge change as after the second great awakening, sex work was looked down on. It did not last long but this was legal sex work.

Fleeing Patriotism

nathandunbar — 2024-06-25 03:36:36 UTC

As the war dragged on, the overall population were starting to lose a lot of their morale that they had at the start. For southern women, the price of food went way up and shortages were common. For women up North, it was more of conscription issue. Many were angry that the war was still going and many wanted it to end.

Writing on the War

nathandunbar — 2024-06-25 03:41:11 UTC

There were many documents that were put out before and during the war. "Uncle Tom's cabin" and "Incidents in a Life of Slave Girl" had made people in the North be more aware of what slavery was like down South. Writings on both sides showed their patriotism for their side. In New Orleans, White women wrote to defame the Union soldiers that were holding the city.

Violence after the War

nathandunbar — 2024-06-25 03:44:53 UTC

These black coves were created which were a lot like slavery. In Memphis and New Orleans, there were massacres and riots in the name of white supremacy. Churches and homes were burnt down. African American Women were sexual assaulted and many black people were killed in this fighting. This was done to try and reclaim some of the dynamics pre-civil war and apply them to now.

Black Women's Respectability

nathandunbar — 2024-06-25 03:50:44 UTC

The black community was trying to define themselves in a way that was deemed respectable. There is a way that you dress, act, and follow God. Also there was a big emphasis on family, education, and safe from violence. The ones that would not follow this model would be looked down on by the rest of the community.

White Marriage Changes

nathandunbar — 2024-06-25 03:54:15 UTC

White women start to demand that men who commits domestic abuse be grounds for abuse. The government also want to try and criminalize abuse against women. Women also want the vows to change. They do not want the vows to say that women should obey their husbands and this becomes a hot button issue.

Women in the Public Sphere

nathandunbar — 2024-06-25 03:56:33 UTC

White women are starting to push back on the idea that they should go back to doing what they did before the war happened. Many women were required to take on jobs while their husbands were away fighting. They did not want to be pushed back away from the jobs they had been doing for the few years.

Reconstructing White Manhood

nathandunbar — 2024-06-25 04:01:39 UTC

The government did not pay for any of the confederate soldiers to be buried because they were traitors. To honor these men, groups like the LMA and UDC would make arguments for why they should have confederate statues. They use their gender to say that they only want to honor the men who fought hard and with valor. This creates the idea of the Lost Cause in the South. The idea that if the southern troops had what the North had, they would have won. Also that the war was not fought for slavery but rather some other reason.

Growth of Stereotypes of African Americans(1890s)

nathandunbar — 2024-06-25 04:10:09 UTC

In the 1890s, the South lets the hate/white supremacy groups run wild. They painted African Americans as lazy and they were going to come for the Whites. They still enforced the stereotype of a Jezebel to black women. They showed this in a film called "The Birth of a Nation". They made the KKK as a savior from the evil African Americans.

NAACP

nathandunbar — 2024-06-25 04:13:40 UTC

The NAACP was created in 1908. This was created as resistance from the hate groups and the narrative brought from these groups. Black women would join this league and would write and campaign in the name of black advancement.

The Birth of Feminism

nathandunbar — 2024-06-25 04:20:59 UTC

Cady Smith talked about how women were having a psychological change as a whole. She wanted every women to have their own freedom to follow what they wanted. The look forward on what emancipation of women would be like, she coined the name feminism to emphasize this change of thinking.

Comstock Act

nathandunbar — 2024-06-25 04:25:34 UTC

This was an act that banned all pornography, prostitution, birth control and abortion. This makes all of this go underground and birth control still stuck around. Socially, they wanted to change how women were suppose to act in public. Also they wanted women to be more submissive to their partners.

nathandunbar — 2024-06-25 04:39:11 UTC