Women in the American Civil War

The 19th Amendment secured for women the right to vote in 1920 -- a triumph nearly 80 years in the making. Ratification would never have happened without active widespread support of women across the nation, but as historians have discovered, efforts to gain suffrage and other rights for women throughout America's history have been distinguished not only by unity, consensus, and advancement, but by plurality, disagreement, and reversals, as well.

The fight for women's rights was one of the first topics explored by women's historians when the field emerged in the 1970s. Current and authoritative, Women's Rights: People and Perspectives shows just how complex and multifaceted our understanding of that fight has become.

Women's Rights spans the breadth of American history, from Native American women prior to colonization to women during the Revolution, Antebellum period, the Civil War, and the Gilded Age. Coverage of the 20th century moves from the Progressive Era to the Great Depression and World War II; from the emergence of modern feminism to the present. Throughout, it offers fascinating details of ordinary and extraordinary lives while charting the evolving roles of women in American society.