Women in the Civil War

During the Civil War, women were expected to act a certain way. They were expected to cook, clean, and take care of the children. It was not looked favorably upon for a woman to have a job outside the home or act "like a man". These set of constraints are known as the Sphere of Domesticity. Some women in the Civil War chose to make an impact while staying inside the sphere, while others chose to break out from the sphere to aid others.

One woman, Belle Boyd, strayed out of the sphere by acting as a Confederate spy. She stole weapons from confederate camps and flirtatiously tricked union soldiers. Belle Boyd is a prime example of a woman not being inside the Sphere of Domesticity. She chose to act outside the sphere because of an encounter she had with a Union soldier. A drunk group of soldiers tried to raise a Yankee flag above her home. She then was threatened by a soldier, then she killed him, leaving her with a sense of revenge for the soldier trying to convert her house to a "yankee house".

Belle Boyd

Another woman, Alice Chapin, chose to stay more inside the sphere. Her husband forbade her from getting a job while he was at war, so she decided to aid the troops. She did not however volunteer as a nurse, she chose to send care packages full of food, soap, and stamps.

Alice Chapin