Representation of Women

Responsibilities of Women

With the men off fighting at war, women had different options for their wartime lives. Some took over their husbands’ businesses, farms, and plantations. Some contributed to the war by sewing flags and uniforms. Others ran charities to gather materials to send to their soldiers. Overall, women had more opportunities during the war.¹

This political cartoon below reveals the latter two options described above, as well as general attitudes towards women.

Other Portrayals of Women

Some cartoons depicted Columbia, an angelic womanly figure. Columbia is the female representative of the United States. She is sometimes accompanied by John Bull (the representative of Great Britain) and sometimes shown completing domestic tasks.

Other cartoons often illustrated women as passive damsels in distress. They would be shown off to the side of the cartoon with a generally distressed expression as the men participated in the main action. This may have acted as a call to action for men because they must protect their vulnerable women at home.

1. Silber, Nina. “‘A Woman’s War:’ Gender and Civil War Studies.” OAH Magazine of History, vol. 8, no. 1, 1993, pp. 11–13. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25162919. Accessed 20 Jul. 2022. [↩]