Women of the Civil War
Kim Baker
Length of Lesson: 2-3 Days
Grade Level: 4th -5th Grade
Objectives:
How did women play a role in the Civil War?
The students will evaluate how women played a part in the Civil War,
helping both sides of the war.
Materials:
• Information and pictures about Susan B Anthony, Clara Barton,
Harriet Tubman, Bell Boyd, Mary Todd Lincoln, and Varina Howell
Davis.
• Poster board
• Markers and tape
Procedure:
• Review as a class what you know about the Civil War. (use
textbooks to guide review)
• Divide students into groups of 3 or 4. Then assign each group a Civil
War Lady and the information cards.
• Each group will review the information cards of the woman they
were assigned. Then, the groups are to pick only 10 cards of
information. Then using the cards, they are to create a visual (a
poster) of their Civil War Lady.
• Students are allowed to use markers, crayons, and other materials
to create the poster.
• When students are complete, they are to share their poser with the
class and explain what their Civil War Lady is known for.
Evaluation:
• Poster and presentation.
• Have students write a summary of their Civil War Lady
Extension Activity:
After the activity, ask students to respond to this question, “What Civil War
Lady do you like the most and why?”
References:
Outrageous Women of Civil War Times by Mary Rodd Furbee
Presentation- Becoming a Historian.
Standards:
SS.4.A.5.1
Describe Florida's involvement (secession, blockades of ports, the battles
of Ft. Pickens, Olustee, Ft. Brooke, Natural Bridge, food supply) in the Civil
War.
Susan B Anthony
Susan was born in 1820 in Adams Massachusetts
At age 11, Susan began to work at cotton mill,
where women earned half as much.
As a teenager, she attended a Quaker boarding
school in Philadelphia.
Susan became a school teacher in New York
only earning $2.50 a week, when men earned
$10.00 a week.
In the late 1840’s Susan inherited money and was
able to stop teaching to become an activist.
Susan joined the American Anti-Slavery in New
York.
In 1848 Susan worked at the women rights
convention in Seneca Falls.
In the late 1850’s Susan “stumped,” around New
York. She was lobbying for a Married Women’s
Law.
The Married Women’s Law passed which allowed
married women to own property, be guardians
of their children, and file lawsuits.
In 1861, the Civil War erupted. Susan focused her
attention to voting rights for blacks.
Susan founded a newspaper called The
Revolution.
She was also a member of the NWSA- National
Women’s Suffrage Association.
On November 5, 1872 Susan was arrested for
trying to vote for the president, Ulysses S. Grant.
In 1873, Susan was put on trail for breaking the
law and trying to vote. She was found guilty.
Susan died in 1906 trying to get Women the right
to vote.
Clara Barton
Clara was born Christmas Day, 1821 in
Massachusetts
At age 11, Clara nursed her brother, David, back
to health.
Clara became a teacher and taught in
Massachusetts and New Jersey until her early
30’s.
1850, Clara went back to school at the Clinton
Liberal Institute for Higher Learning.
In 1851, Clara then became a “government girl.”
She became a clerk.
1858, Clara resigned from her job.
In 1861, the first wounded soldiers were brought
to Washington. Clara treated wounds, found lost
luggage, wrote letters, and other duties.
On August 3, 1862, Clara got permission to travel
on the front lines of the war.
During the Civil War, Clara was on the front lines
of most major battles; Bull Run, Harper’s Ferry,
Petersburg, Antietam, and Fredericksburg. There
she helped wounded men on the field with
bullets flying around her.
After the war, in 1865, President Lincoln granted
Clara permission to run the Office of
Correspondences with Friends of the Missing Men
of the United States of America. She worked to
locate and identify missing soldiers who had
died.
In 1869, when the office was disbanded, Clara
identified 22,000 dead or missing soldiers.
1870, while in Europe, she went on the front lines
of the French and Prussian war. This is where
Clara was introduced to the Red Cross.
1873, the emperor of Germany awarded Clara
the Iron Cross of Merit.
1882, Clara create the American Red Cross to
help people during floods, famines, droughts,
epidemics, hurricanes, and other disasters.
Clara was the president of the American Red
Cross for 23 years.
At age 70 she took supplies to Cuba.
At age 79 she helped victims of a flooding in
Texas.
Clara died in 1912, at age 91 in Maryland.
Harriet Tubman
Harriet was born sometime around 1820.
Harriet grew up in slave quarters, a 1 room
windowless house.
At age 6, her master put her to work in the fields,
but was hired out instead.
As a young girl, she worked for a weaver, a
trapper, and a plantation mistress.
At age 8, she was finally sent to the fields to work.
Then at age 24, Harriet married a free black man
named John Tubman.
1849, Harriet was to be sold and she decided to
run away to the north.
Harriet arrived in Philadelphia, and got a job as a
domestic servant.
She joined the Philadelphia Vigilance Committee
that helped slaves escape on the Railroad. She
became a guide.
For a decade, Harriet helped about 300 slaves to
freedom.
During the Civil War, Harriet ran a Union Hospital
for black refugees. She never got paid.
In 1863, the Union Army also sent Harriet as a spy.
In 1888, Harriet opened the Harriet Tubman
Home, to care for old and poor ex-slaves.
In 1913, Harriet died peacefully.
Belle Boyd
Maria Isabella Boyd was born in 1844.
By age 12 Belle was sent to boarding school in
Baltimore, Maryland.
She attended Mount Washington Female
College for about 4 years.
At age 16, Belle was formally introduced to
society. Her debut ball was held in Washington
D.C.
On April 11, 1861, the south attacked Fort
Sumpter, and Belle packed up and went home.
Belle helped the rebel women of Martinsburg sew
flags.
On July 4th 1861, Belle shot a Union Soldier to
protect her mother. She then became friends
with the Union Soldiers.
During dances, held by the Union Soldiers, she
would dance and learn the Union Army’s plans
and would send notes to the Confederate Army.
Belle became a Confederate Spy. She learned
codes, clever disguises, and how to hide the
messages in shoes, hair pins, and watches.
In March 1862, Union Detectives captured Belle.
She was only held for a week, and then released.
Belle was arrested several times for being a spy
and released.
On May 23, 1862 Belle attempted to carry a
message to the Confederate Army, when the
Union soldiers noticed her, they attempted to
shoot her, but missed.
In July 1862, the Union Army set a trap for Belle.
When Belle was caught and the Union found
more evidence, she was arrested and sent to Old
Capital Prison in Washington D.C.
In early 1863, Belle was freed in a prisoner
exchange.
In May 1864, Belle was to take a European
vacation. Jefferson Davis asked Belle to carry a
message with her. Under the name of Mrs. Lewis
sailed on the Greyhound from Washington to
England. The U.S.S Connecticut captured the
vessel. Belle burned the note.
Belle married Samuel Hardinge, a Union officer,
on August 25, 1864, in England.
By 1866, Belle became an actress on the stage.
In 1900, Belle died. Her tombstone read: “Belle
Boyd: Confederate Spy.”
Mary Todd Lincoln
Mary was born in Lexington, Kentucky in 1818.
From ages 8-17 Mary studied dancing, literature,
and French.
In 1842, Mary married Abraham Lincoln.
Mary and Abe Lincoln had four sons, Robert in
1843, Edward in 1846, William in 1850, and
Thomas, Tad, in 1853.
In 1846, Abe was elected an Illinois state
representative in Congress.
In 1849, Mary and Abe’s son, Eddie died.
Mary was Abe’s biggest supporter when he ran
for president.
In 1861, Mary helped care for the first wounded
soldiers in Washington D.C.
Mary asked Congress for funds to redecorate the
White House. Congress granted her the money
and she spent time changing the moldy carpets,
peeling paint to adding new wallpaper, carpets,
and central heating.
In 1862, Willie at age 12, died. This devastated
Mary.
Mary would hold séances in the Red Room of the
White House to try and contact Willie.
April 14, 1865 President Lincoln was assassinated
while at the theatre.
In 1871, Thomas (Tad) died of pneumonia
In 1882, Mary died in Springfield, Illinois .
Varina Howell Davis
Varina was born into a wealthy family in 1826.
As a young girl, Varina was educated at home
with tutors.
On February 26, 1845, Varina married Jefferson
Davis.
Varina and Jefferson had 6 children. Four of
them died young.
In January 1861,Varina watched as her husband
announced that Mississippi had left the Union.
By February 1861, the Confederacy eleced
Varina’s husband, Jefferson Davis the President
of the Confederacy.
By March 1865, the war was ending. Varina sold
her jewelry, china, carriage, clothes, horses and
headed to North Carolina for protection.
By May 1865, the war was over and Varina,
Jefferson and their children were in Georgia
when the Union troops captured them.
Varina was sent free and Jefferson was
imprisoned at Fort Monroe.
For two years, Varina lobbied to have Jefferson
released from prison. By 1867 he was released.
In 1881, Jefferson wrote a book and Varina
edited the book, The Rise and Fall of the
Confederate Government.
1889 Jefferson, Varina’s husband died.
In 1906, Varina died, leaving the Jefferson estate
for a museum.