Women During the Civil War " ‘I want something to do…' ‘Write a book,' Qouth the author of my being. ‘Don't know enough, sir. First live, then write.' ‘Try teaching again,' suggested my mother. ‘No thank you, ma'am, ten years of that is enough.' ‘Take a husband like my Darby, and fulfill your mission,' said sister Joan. ‘Can't afford expensive luxuries, Mrs. Coobiddy.' ‘Go nurse the soldiers,' said my young brother, Tom. ‘I will!' (Harper 14)." This is a dialog of Louisa May Alcott with her relatives. Miss Alcott, like many other African American women, helped serve in the Civil War. During the Civil War, Miss Alcott held a variety of jobs. Mainly working as a writer, she held positions as a nurse, teacher, and volunteered in …show more content…

They were fighting for the cause that they believed every black troop was fighting for. The African American women were helping to fight for their freedom. Women's jobs in the war were very limited on or near the battlefield. They were never allowed to be involved in direct combat. Women that wanted to feel as if they served a purpose in the war and wanted to be more dangerous and daring got jobs as spies, couriers, guides, scouts, saboteurs, or smugglers. Most of these spies were Confederate women who were involved in stealing information from the North. Because of the connotation that went along with being a spy, women's reputations were often ruined. They were not trusted by others, and many were suspicious of their activities. Nurses played a very integral part in aiding the war cause. There were over twenty thousand nurses active in the war and were stationed at military hospitals and camps, field hospitals, and battlefields. In addition, when a formal health care facility was not available nurses cared for wounded in homes, churches and schools. Because of the demand for nurses, it did not matter if the nurses were qualified and required no professional or hospital experience. The unqualified nurses thought that caring for their family through sickness and health qualified them. In contrast to today's norms, males constituted seventy-five percent of the active nurses. Nurses had