Women’s Experiences in Post-Civil War America
The experiences of women after the Civil War of the 19th century may have varied according to the women’s cultural and ethnic backgrounds, but in general they were quite harsh: women after the Civil War were subject to hardships and violence, although there were a number of them who became activists in their own right in order to champion the cause of women.
The first account is that of Benjamin Singleton, an African-American man who helped in the migration of newly freed slaves to Kansas from Tennessee. He talks of the plight of African-American widows of slaves who went to their masters, and who were told that they still had outstanding loans with the masters. The women would either leave their children with their masters or simply leave the children behind to fend for themselves, as they could not pay off the so-called loans. One more account comes from the African-American writer and activist, Ida B. Wells. She notes that while many African-Americans became free after the Civil War, they were not actually free in the sense that they could not vote, and that many of them became the victims of lynching and other horrible acts just so that White Americans could still have control over the African-American population of the country. Ms. Wells was also harassed, and her own property was destroyed as she became very vocal about this situation and became an activist for African-American rights. Thus the plight of African-American women could be said to have remained the same after the Civil War. They were still subject to domination and subjugation by White Americans, and continued to languish in poverty without enjoying the opportunities such as education and the right to vote. These women’s status was still the same in 1964 when Fannie Lou Hamer spoke before the Democratic Convention during this year to protest the non-inclusion of Black delegates, as many of the southern states sent only White delegates. She helped found the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) that was a group of Black delegates attending the said convention. She narrated that she had long been harassed and had often narrowly escaped death as she fought for her own right to vote.
On the part of White American women, the picture was also not too good. There were women who fought against the negative effects of alcohol and the presence of saloons, and what this did to their families. Ms. Felton was a housewife who saw what alcohol and saloons did to wives and children. She helped form the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), an organization with the objective of promoting temperance and the reduction or closure of saloons. She said that wives were beaten and battered by drunk husbands who eventually could not earn a decent living, and so the future of the children was questionable as well. She spoke to Congress hoping for the passage of laws to regulate the production and sale of alcohol and the operations of saloons. There is also mention of an upsurge in violence against women (both prostitutes and non-prostitutes), as well as the fact that rape against Native American women being commonplace in areas where there were conflicts between the Native American tribes and White Americans. The economic conditions of women farmers was also brought to the attention of politicians by Mary Elizabeth Lease. As a rural farmer, she faced hardships as agricultural produce were purchased at the time at very low prices. They were thus unable to pay off their debts to loan sharks. Ms. Lease classified herself and other rural women agricultural workers as being no better off than slaves. They worked so hard, and yet they could not provide comfort to their families. Even White women who wished to join hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) could not join these organizations. The KKK considered women as their own possessions, just as they would look at their homes, cars and any other material objects they owned.
Therefore while the plight of African American women could be said to be more difficult than those of White women after the Civil War, women in general faced many obstacles – they experienced harassment, less access to better-paying jobs and violence in the form of assault and rape. The conditions in which they lived and worked in were still less than optimum and less than what their male counterparts experienced.
Bibliography
Organizing 100% American Women. In American Perspectives: Readings in American History. K. McGaughy, ed. Web: Pearson Learning Solutions. 2015. 342-343.
Rebecca Latimer Felton Endorses Prohibition, in American Perspectives: Readings in American History, K. McGaughy, ed. Pearson Learning Solutions. Web. 2015. 67-68.
The Testimony of Fannie Lou Hamer. In American Perspectives: Readings in American History. K. McGaughy, ed. Web: Pearson Learning Solutions. 2015. 612-613.
The Testimony of Benjamin Singleton . In American Perspectives: Readings in American History, Vol. 2. K. McGaughy, ed. Pearson Learning Solutions. 2015. 61-62.
Two Speeches by Mary Elizabeth Lease. In American Perspectives: Readings in American History, K. McGaughy, ed. Web: Pearson Learning Solutions. 2015. 119-122.
Wells, Ida. The Horrors of Lynching in the South. In American Perspectives: Readings in American History, Vol. 2. K. McGaughy, ed. Pearson Learning Solutions. 2015. 63-64.
