Day 2: Life on the Homefront

Picture
Civilians of the U.S. Sanitary Commission in Fredericksburg, VA.
What was it like to be a plantation wife in the South during the Civil War?

What was it like to be a northern wife?

With a high percentage of the men from both sides away at war, and with a shortage of available staples, the lives of those left behind often were quite difficult.

We will read excerpts from "The Civil War Homefront" by Drew Gilpin Faust to get a glimpse of how their lives changed.


Part 1: Read and Analyze

You will be assigned to a small group of 3-4 students by your teacher.  Your group will then be assigned to read the excerpt about southern women OR the excerpt about northern women. As you read, it would be wise to highlight important ideas and take commentary style notes in the margins. Follow the appropriate instructions below.

Instructions for "Plantation Wives from the South" Groups

Click on the link to the Faust article above.

Read the first 4 paragraphs.  They provide a good introduction to the basic differences between the situations in the North and South while the war was being waged.

Your excerpt begins with the 5th paragraph, which starts with the line, "Historians have been particularly assiduous in exploring these divisions within the South..."

You will read a total of 9 paragraphs.  The last one you should read starts with the line, "The ineffectiveness of white women in what they and their slaves saw as the essentially contradictory role..." 

Instructions for "Northern Wives" Groups

Click on the link to the Faust article above.

Read the first 4 paragraphs.  They provide a good introduction to the basic differences between the situations in the North and South while the war was being waged.

Your excerpt begins with the 14th paragraph, which starts with the line, "Work on the northern homefront has been more diffuse and less abundant..."

You will read a total of 10 paragraphs. The last one you should read starts with the line, "The centrality of gender to war's meaning for the North has assumed an additional dimension..."

Part 2: A Letter to the Front Lines

Once you have completed your excerpt, you and your group will work together to write a letter from the perspective of a woman from your region, North or South, to her husband who is serving as a soldier.  You should include as many details as possible about the new roles you are fulfilling, sacrifices you are making, and frustrations you are experiencing based on the information from the article.

Be prepared to read your letter to the class.

Part 3: Class Discussion

After Plantation Wives of the South groups have read their letters out loud, we will discuss the following questions:

  • What are some of the things that these women are having to go without due to the war?
  • What are the new roles that the women are having to step into? (Hint: What was their new role with the institution of slavery?) Do they enjoy these new roles?  Why? Why not?
After the Northern Wives groups have read their letters out loud, we will discuss the following questions:

  • Some northern families depended on agriculture for their income and others depended on jobs in manufacturing.  How did these families experience the war differently?
  • What are the new roles that the women are having to step into? (Hint: What were their new roles in industry and economy?) Do they enjoy these new roles?  Why? Why not?