User:Sverbie05/sandbox

At the outset of the Civil War southern women were barred from participation in the political process in the United States and, after secession, also within the Confederate States which formed in response to the election of president Abraham Lincoln. Even though they were not allowed to vote on the issue women became very invested in the cause of the confederacy. Many southern women were very zealous in their support for their husbands and sons going off to war. They saw the men as protectors and invested heavily in the romantic idea of men fighting to defend the honor of their country, their family, and their way of life. Mothers and wives were able to keep in contact with their loved ones who had chose to enlist by writing them letters. The luxuries of communications were available for white, slaveholding women. African American women had experienced the breakup of families for generations and once again dealt with this issue at the outbreak of war. Although many women campaigned for their men to go off and fight others were upset that they were not allowed political participation even though the questions tearing the nation apart were directly affecting their lives. Women were confined to the private sphere, the home. Although political commentary from women was frowned upon, many women believed that they had just as great a right to speak about these questions as men. A group of women in Jacksonville, Florida wrote a letter to the their newspaper questioning the politicians from their state, believing that women should be able to engage in political discourse, and can do so just as well as men.