Confederate Women

Basic beliefs acknowledge that the Confederacy is wrong, that it was against human rights and equality for blacks in America.  We've been taught this and learned how black people felt during this time.  What about the Confederate women?  They were not allowed to vote for or against the war.  How did they feel during this time period?  What impact did the war have on their lives?

In his book, Foner writes that "Even more than in the North, the war placed unprecedented burdens on southern white women." (510)  He goes on to write that because they were "Left alone on farms and plantations, they were often forced to manage business affairs and discipline slaves, previously the responsibility of men." (510)  In addition to taking on the additional work that they were not used to, white women had to worry about the safety of their husbands at war.

To help support the men at war, the women took to making Confederate flags.  They would they present the flags to troops.  In an address by Mrs. Spotswood to the Red River Dragons she states "The great chaos in which our country has been thrown, caused by the revolting actions of those hungry and mercenary squads of the North, is the most eventful epoch of the nineteenth century.  For twenty-five years these bickerings have been going on, headed by these maddened fanatics, who have planned rebellion, without justification, and are now restrained by fears or scruples, from taking any decisive step.  These advancements being urged on by their Black Republican President, and other avaricious traitors, have brought about the revolution which now threatens us.  This aggression has been the means of severing the tie that once bound our glorious and happy Union.  Eleven States have already withdrawn from that oppressive Government, and quietly formed a Southern Confederacy—only asking the privilege to breathe their own air, manage their own affairs, support their own altars, and resolve "to do or die."  We have reserved a space upon the blue field in this flag for others, which we hope, ere many [illegible] in the western horizon, will [illegible] "that proud old Com- [illegible] the mother of our country."  [Illegible] united hand, cemented by justice, by affection, and armed in defence of your lives, your homes, and your interests, [illegible] an impulse deeper far than the mere love of money, urge you outward and onward in the support of those rights, and let your motto be "Liberty or Death."  In our dear "sunny South," the smiling sky, the balmy breeze that fans the weary traveller's cheek—the beautiful streams, in which are blended all the hues of the rainbow, speak of mercy and liberty—such scenes of radiant nature transport the imagination with a holy enthusiasm.  "Land of the South—beneath the Heaven.  There's not a fairer, lovelier clime, Nor one to which was ever given a destiny more high, sublime." If our social and commercial ties were permitted to be torn asunder by Black Republicanism and federal aggression, what would be our lot?  Our religious altars would be hurled to the ground; infidel desecrations would rise in their stead, and our glorious South become a desert—a place for rabbles, or the halls of revelry for our oppressors.  Gentlemen, in expressing the entire approbation and heartfelt emotions of those, whom I have the honor to represent; I tender to you this flag—emblematical of our Southern Confederacy, and as a token of their confidence in your valor; believing you merit the warmest eulogies.  Accept it, not only as a realization of woman's patriotism, but the religion of her love and prayers."  http://www.uttyler.edu/vbetts/texas_women_public_voices.htm

This statement by Mrs. Spotswood goes to show the view of Confereate women during the Civil War.  We know the view of the North very well because they were fighting for justice.  Her statement goes to show how the other side felt during that time.  Confederacy was their way of life upon loosing the battle their lives would be forever changed.


Resources

"Address of Mrs. Spotswood", http://www.uttyler.edu/vbetts/texas_women_public_voices.htm

Foner, Eric.  Give Me Liberty Volume 1, Second Edition.  New York.  W.W. Norton & Company. 2009

Fighting for Women's Rights (Blog Post #2)

    Inequality.  We are all familiar with the inequalities that existed when our country started out.  As I wrote about in my previous blog, colonists fought against the British for forcing unjust taxes on them.  Outraged against the unfairness, colonists fought to be free from Britain.  Even after they won freedom, numerous inequalities existed in early America. 
 
    One of the more prominent inequalities was the rights women had compared to men.  Men were free to be educated, work in a profession of their choice, vote, attend meetings, and have a voice in the world.  Women on the other hand were lucky if they received any form of education.  They were to work in the home doing the cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the family.  Women who were able to work and earn money often had to give up all of their earnings to her husband or received no recognition in their profession.  In A People's History of the United States, Zinn writes that "The use of the phrase all men are created equal was probably not a deliberate attempt to make a statement about women.  It was just that women were beyond consideration as worthy of inclusion" (57).  By the time Elizabeth Cady Stanton gave her speech in 1848, women had enough and started speaking out for their equal rights.


    The Seneca Fall Convention was primarily organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott.  It was held July 19-20 in 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York.  An article written in the Dictionary of American History states that, "During a casual visit by Mott at Stanton's home in Seneca Falls, the two shared their common frustration with the slow pace of progress for women.  Deciding to act, they placed an advertisement in a local paper calling for a meeting on the subject of women's rights to be convened the very next week". http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Seneca_Falls_Convention_1848.aspx.  During the convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton gave a speech called "The Declaration of  Sentiments".  She modeled her speech after the Declaration of Independence.  This is shown by the statement that she makes "...that all men and women are created equal".  She replaces the line in the Declaration of Independence that states "all men are created equal" because in leaving the word "women" out of that statement, they aren't treated with the same justices that men receive in the declaration. http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/speeches/stanton_seneca_falls.html.  As her powerful speech continues, she states the several injustices that face women.  "He has never permitted her to exercise her inalienable right to the elective franchise. He has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she had no voice. He has withheld from her rights which are given to the most ignorant and degraded men--both natives and foreigners. Having deprived her of this first right of a citizedn, the elective franchise, thereby leaving her without representation in the halls of legislation, he has oppressed her on all sides. He has made her, if married, in the eye of the law, civilly dead. He has taken from her all right in property, even to the wages she earns".  http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/speeches/stanton_seneca_falls.html.  Coming from a women who lived during these times, these lines reinforce that inequality existed and how it effected women.  Elizabeth Cady Stanton concludes her speech by saying "...women do feel themselves aggrieved, oppressed, and fraudulently deprived of their most sacred rights, we insist that they have immediate admission to all the rights and privileges which belong to them as citizens of the United States".  http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/speeches/stanton_seneca_falls.html. 

    Even after Elizabeth Cady Stanton gave this speech, it still took several years for women to gain their given rights as citizens of the United States.  The Seneca Falls Convention that she held along with Lucretia Mott helped bring attention to the issue on a bigger scale.  Women deserved the same rights that men did.  Years later in our time, we are still seeing the role of women in the workplace becoming more equal to that of men.  Women are no longer expected to stay home and be the housewife.  They have just as many opportunities as men do these days.  These opportunities wouldn't have come around to us as soon as they did if it weren't for people like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott standing up for the injustices that were placed upon women in the early formation of our country.


Sources

"Seneca Falls Convention." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 25 Oct. 2010 http://www.encyclopedia.com/

"The Declaration of Sentiments."  Social Justice Speeches.  http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/speeches/stanton_seneca_falls.html

Zinn, Howard.  A People's History of the United States, Volume I.  New York, The New Press. 2003.

The Boston Tea Party (Blog Post #1)

 

    Taxes.  We are all familiar with them.  We all understand that we are required to pay taxes and every individual has their own tax rate based on the amount of money you earn.  When the government raises taxes we complain.  Raising taxes puts a strain on individuals and small businesses.  Some people may even argue that when the government raises taxes it is just a way of them enforcing power over us and taking our hard earned money to make up for financial mistakes that they have made.  Maybe this is how the people of Boston felt during the time that lead up to the Boston Tea Party in 1773.

   In the time period ranging from 1765-1773, King George III enforced several taxes on the American colonists to make up for the money that had been spent on the French and Indian War.  He started with the Stamp Act in 1765 and the the Townsend Acts in 1767.  These taxes infuriated the American colonists who felt that they were unfair and should not be held responsible for them.  In what would seem like a considerate gesture, Parliament retracted the taxes.  In return however, they came up with a plan to give the East India Company a monopoly on importing tea to America.  In addition to this, Parliament also reduced the amount of tax that the colonists would pay on the tea.  However, if the colonists paid taxes on the tea to Parliament, they would be acknowledging that Parliament had a right to tax them.   What should be done in a situation like this?  In December of 1773 the people of Boston decided that they had enough and weren't going to sit back and let Parliament run them.

   Three ships came into the Boston harbor carrying tea for distribution.  This infuriated the people of Boston.  George Hewes was living in Boston at this time and was involved in the Boston Tea Party.  A documentation of his experience can be found on at http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/revolution/teaparty.htm.  George describes the events that took place that night.  He "...dressed myself in the costume of an Indian, equipped with a small hatchet, which I and my associates denominated the tomahawk, with which, and a club, after having painted my face and hands with coal dust in the shop of a blacksmith, I repaired to Griffin's wharf, where the ships lay that contained the tea. When I first appeared in the street after being thus disguised, I fell in with many who were dressed, equipped and painted as I was, and who fell in with me and marched in order to the place of our destination".  In the picture shown above you can seen men dressed as Indians dumping the tea into the Boston harbor.  George goes on to say that they were told to "...board all the ships at the same time, which we promptly obeyed. The commander of the division to which I belonged, as soon as we were on board the ship appointed me boatswain, and ordered me to go to the captain and demand of him the keys to the hatches and a dozen candles. I made the demand accordingly, and the captain promptly replied, and delivered the articles; but requested me at the same time to do no damage to the ship or rigging.  We then were ordered by our commander to open the hatches and take out all the chests of tea and throw them overboard, and we immediately proceeded to execute his orders, first cutting and splitting the chests with our tomahawks, so as thoroughly to expose them to the effects of the water". 

    After clearing the ships of tea, the men went back to their homes.  Insistent that no one should have the tea that was brought into the harbor that December, in his recollection of events that night, George Hewes describes how the next morning a small number of boats went through the harbor, breaking apart any tea that had surfaced.

    In today's society, we would not be able to do something like this.  Participants would be arrested and be held responsible for paying for the tea that was destroyed and for the funds that it would have cost to stop a demonstration like this.  However at the time the people of Boston were doing this, the British army watched from the side.  The people of Boston did pay in the end with additional taxes and rules placed on them by the British government.  This rebellion would eventually lead to the start of the American Revolution.




Sources
"The Boston Tea Party, 1773," EyeWitness to History, http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/ (2002)


"Boston Tea Party, Eyewitness Account by a Participant",  The History Place, http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/revolution/teaparty.htm