Civil War Experiences Short Story: Review the following excerpts from each of the identified perspectives (Women, African-Americans, Soldiers, Slaves, Children).

  • Consider each perspective.
  • Write a short story about the Civil War including characters and experiences that each of these groups of people may have been a part of in the 1860s.
  • Be creative! Your story must be at least 3 paragraphs in length and your story line must include something happening with each type of person identified.
  • You can create fictional characters and/or use real people in your story.
  • Keep it based in reality and draw from the notes and discussions we have had about the realities of the Civil War.

WOMEN
“Women during the 19th century filled a specific role in society. In this time period, historians called women’s place in society the “cult of domesticity.” Acceptable tasks for women often if not always confined them to the house. Historian Barbara Welters referred to a woman of this time period as the “hostage of the home.” From an early age females learned to cook, clean, sew and raise children, domestic duties that gave women a supposed elevated position in society. The cardinal virtues of true women were seen as piety, purity, submissiveness and domesticity.”
“There were many women playing important roles in the Civil War, including nurses, spies, soldiers, abolitionists, civil rights advocates and promoters of women’s suffrage. Most women were engaged in supplying the troops with food, clothing, medical supplies, and even money through fundraising.”
Source Citation: "Women In The Civil War." History Net Where History Comes Alive World US History Online RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2015.
AFRICAN AMERICANS
“African-Americans served in the in the Civil War on both the Union and Confederate side. In the Union army, over 179,000 African American men served in over 160 units, as well as more serving in the Navy and in support positions. This number comprised of both northern freeAfrican Americans and runaway slaves from the South who enlisted to fight. In the Confederacy, African-Americans were still slaves and they served mostly in labor positions. By 1865, the South allowed slaves to enlist but very few actually did.”
“Blacks on both sides of the war served in relief roles, for example, working as nurses, cooks, and blacksmiths. The South refused to arm blacks but used them to build fortifications and perform camp duties; many Northern officers refused to believe black troops would fight, and so they were often assigned to non-combat duties or placed in the rear guarding railroads and bridges. Blacks also served as spies and scouts to the Union Army, providing valuable information about Confederate forces, plans, and familiar terrain.”
“Black Union soldiers did not receive equal pay or equal treatment. They were paid $10 a month, with $3 deducted from that pay for clothing—white soldiers received $13 a month with no clothing deduction—until June 1864, when Congress granted retroactive equal pay.”
Source Citation: "African Americans In The Civil War." History Net Where History Comes Alive World US History Online RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2015.
SOLDIERS
“About 2.75 million soldiers fought in the Civil War — 2 million for the North and 750,000 for the South.
The Average Soldier
According to historian Bell I. Wiley, who pioneered the study of the Civil War common soldier, the average Yank or Reb was a ‘white, native-born, farmer, protestant, single, between 18 and 29.’ He stood about 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighed about 143 pounds. Most soldiers were between the ages of 18 and 39 with an average age just under 26.”
“The Odds Against Them
Of every 1,000 Feder-als, 112 were wounded; 150 of every 1,000 Confederates were hit. A Yankee stood a 1 in 8 chance of dying due to illness and a 1 in 18 chance of dying in battle. A Rebel faced a 1 in 5 chance of succumbing to disease and a 1 in 8 chance of dying in combat.”
Source Citation: "Civil War Soldiers." History Net Where History Comes Alive World US History Online RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2015.
SLAVES
“Virginia had the largest population of enslaved African Americans of any state in the Confederacy, and those slaves responded to the American Civil War (1861–1865) in a variety of ways. Some volunteered to assist the Confederate war effort, while many others were forced to support the Confederacy, working on farms and in factories and households throughout Virginia. Thousands escaped to the Union army's lines, earning their freedom and forcing the United States to develop a uniform policy regarding emancipation. Others remained on their home plantations and farms but took advantage of the war to gain some measure of autonomy for their families. Slaves' wartime actions most often exhibited their strong desire for freedom, and even those who chose not to escape frequently welcomed the Union army as liberators.”
Source Citation: "Slavery During the Civil War." Slavery During the Civil War. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2015.
“…during the Civil War many slaves fled their owners as soon as they could, heading north or wherever "behind Union lines" took them.1 Many others could not leave or would not leave without their families, often convinced that the Yankees were their enemies, too. And, finally, many were loyal to their slaveholders, defending them and their property from raiding Yankees while simultaneously yearning for a Union victory—a dual loyalty unfathomable to most slaveholders, and aptly expressed by Martin Jackson, who accompanied his slaveholder in the First Texas Cavalry: "I wanted [the Yankees] to win and lick us Southerners, but I hoped they was going to do it without wiping out our company." Here we read selections to illustrate the range of attitude and experience during the war, excerpted from 19th- and 20th-century narratives of formerly enslaved African Americans.”
Source Citation: "Slave Life during the Civil War, Emancipation of Enslaved African Americans, African American Identity: Vol. I, 1500-1865, Primary Resources in U.S. History and Literature, Toolbox Library, National Humanities Center." Slave Life during the Civil War, Emancipation of Enslaved African Americans, African American Identity: Vol. I, 1500-1865, Primary Resources in U.S. History and Literature, Toolbox Library, National Humanities Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2015.
CHILDREN
“Children were an active, enthusiastic, and critical part of Civil War society. They comprised a much bigger portion of the US population in 1860 than in the 21st century, with persons under age 19 making up nearly half of the population (compared to less than 25% today). Children played an important role on the home front supporting the war effort, and many soldiers on both sides invoked the future of their children as to why the war should be fought and won at any cost. A number of children took up arms with their elders and served as enlisted soldiers or regimental musicians. While we don't know how many children enlisted during the Civil War, we do know that around 48 soldiers who were under the age of 18 won the Congressional Medal of Honor for their bravery and service.”
“In these few months” wrote twelve year old Celine Fremaux of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, “my childhood had slipped away from me. Necessity, human obligations, family pride and patriotism had taken entire possession of my little emaciated body.” Children on the Civil War home front encountered trials, hardships, and violence that forced them to grow up quickly amidst a nation at war with itself.”
“I told [my sister] I had to go down town,” wrote Elisha Stockwell of Wisconsin, recalling his hasty enlistment at the age of 15 “She said, 'Hurry back, for dinner will soon be ready.' But I didn’t get back for two years.”
Role of Boys in the War:
“Once enlisted, the boys would perform a number of important functions within a regiment. Some were regular, enlisted soldiers, but others would become musicians, mounted couriers or runners, hospital attendants, guards, orderlies, chaplain assistants, water carriers, or barbers. At sea, they would serve as cabin boys, galley helpers, and powder boys.”
Source Citation:Council on Foreign Relations. Council on Foreign Relations, n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2015.