Who Was Really Fighting For Our Freedom? Response to Cross Dressers In the Civil War

In 1865, a Civil War fought between the North and South of our Nation, a war that would change how people were treated for generations, ended. Although the conclusion of this battle meant new beginnings for African Americans, who were freed from slavery in the United States, another group of people that were often looked down upon rose to the occasion. "Cross Dressers in the Civil War" by Veronica Majerol tells the story of women, thousands of them from all over the nation, who assumed new identities as men in order to fight along side their brethren, husbands, lovers, and parents in the catastrophic war. For one reason or another, women were drawn to the heat of battle and risked everything they had in order to see the war's end. Although women were prohibited to fight in the Civil War, many determined females, young and old, wanted to be a part of the effort that would have large ripples in our society, even today. This article tells their stories.

Many women left meek or humble lives to join the Civil War. Some women saw the war as an oppritunity to earn more money then they currently were making as seamstresses or maids. Sarah Edmonds, a Canadian women, joined the Union side of the Civil War in order to escape an arranged marriage. Instead of leaving family behind, Frances Hook joined the War effort to be closer to her brother, who died before her eyes. The fact that women were second class citizens drove them to want to participate in the war. In all of these cases, their lack of privileges forced women to want to join the war. They wanted to earn as much money as a man did. They wanted to escape from people who wanted to control their lives. They wanted to fight alongside their loved ones. Since nobody carried IDs at the time, and medical examinations were brief and strictly superficial, joining the army was a tempting offer that many took advantage of. Although joining the war seemed attractive at first glance, it did have it's dangers. 11 percent died in battle or from disease and 15 percent were injured. Although many joined the war in search of better lives, some lost them all together.

 

All people deserve to make decisions for themselves. Throughout time, people who were different genders, religions, races etc. were forced to live half the lives that they deserved to. Women faced gender role stereotypes and were often told what they could and could not do by men and I find this completely unfair. Women should be able to choose what they want to do with their lives, be it joining the army, becoming a surgeon, or even being a housewife, and they so not deserve to be judged for the paths that they take. Even now, the gender earning gap poses a daunting and corrupt reminder that sexism has not yet been eliminated. Society as a whole must recognize that women deserve to be treated the way as men do, and change must come.