Women During The Civil War - 2024 Words

In the 1860’s, American society during the war was of two minds. To fully illustrate the discontent and anger felt for the war, analysis of the personal accounts of women during the Civil War will be introduced in this writing. The personal accounts include diary excerpts and letters, as well as an illustration produced at the time of the war. The wavering of unity on both the South and North due to the separation of family and the destruction of the United States and its individuals set the tone of what was deemed to be an insignificant war. The disengagement of the family unit and the destruction and hardships created due to the wartime circumstances led to discontent with the war, further leading it to be viewed in a negative light by†¦show more content†¦What began as a war to reunite the nation under one constitution and government, morphed into a fight for the abolishment of slavery. With the increased presence of pressure that came with the change in end goal o f the war, tensions rose and a nation that was already divided became more increasingly broken. After slightly over four years of fighting and tension, the Confederacy, under the leadership of General Robert E. Lee, surrendered to the Union, under the leadership of General Ulysses S. Grant in Virginia (Outline 8). Soon after the surrender of the Confederation, President Lincoln was assassinated and Vice President Andrew Johnson assumed position as the President of the United States (Outline 8). During the period of reconstruction following the end of the Civil War, the thirteenth amendment was ratified in 1865, abolishing the establishment of slavery in the United States (Outline 8). In the 1862 â€Å"Excerpt from Diary of Margaret Junkin Preston†, the Civil War is introduced as an unnecessary and unsupported war by many; more specifically, the women (Hollitz 312). The document was written by Margaret as a way of voicing her opinion of the war and the effects it has had on the South. Margaret is putting to words how she feels about her husband being absent from home, the likeliness that he will be absent for such a duration of time; til the war has ended, or the eternal absence as the