T HE H ARDSHIPS OF THE A MERICAN C IVIL W AR The History of the Damage Mrs. Scahill’s PowerPoint

D O N OW Imagine you are a solider fighting in the war. Focusing on all the hardships of the war, write a letter to your parents describing the setting of a camp. Would you pretend that everything is fine? Or would be truthful to your parents? Your letter is expected to meet the requirements for a proper letter taught in your English class.

O BJECTIVES Be able to explain what life was life for soldiers during the Civil War. Identify some of the new technological advances that made the American Civil War different from any war before. Be able to explain the various roles that women played in the war.

T HE H ARD L IFE OF S OLDIERS On both sides, most soldiers were under the age of 21. However, the conditions of war turned boys into men. Soldiers would drill and march for extremely long hours everyday. They would sleep on the ground of the camps, and even in the rain or snow! In combat, boys who were the age of 18 learned to stand firm as cannon blasts besides them and whizzed past their ears.

N EW T ECHNOLOGY A DDS TO THE H ORROR The death rates increasing rose because.... Cone-shaped bullets made rifles twice as accurate. Improved cannons hurled exploding shells more miles than ever before. Most new weapons that were produced during the Civil War had very high death rates. Soldiers hit with the Minie ball suffered severe bone damage. Because of the new technology, in most battles during the Civil War, one fourth or more of the soldiers were killed or wounded in battle.

S ICK, S TARVING, W OUNDED The hardships during the Civil War hit both the Union and the Confederacy. However, the Confederate soldiers were especially hit the most before the fighting took place on their home field. The difficult life of the soldiers led many to desert the camps. Historians note that one out of every seven Union solders and one out of every nine Confederate soldiers left! Diseases, amputations, and starvations were the most common problems in the medical center at the camp ground.

W OMEN IN THE W AR Women in the North and the South plated vital roles during the war. They would: Take on the jobs on the farm and in industries. Supply troops with food, bedding, clothing, and medicine. They even held fairs and fundraisers to help bring awareness of the horrible conditions for soldiers. Ex: Sanitary Fair Commission

N URSES -H ELPING H ANDS At first, doctors were unwilling to permit even trained nurses to work in military hospitals. However, when the numbered of soldiers who were wounded started to increase drastically, this restriction dramatically changed. Women performed so well as nurses during the war that they sometimes even did the same jobs as male doctors. This led to the recognition of women’s war effort during this time period. In Fact, nursing became an accepted occupation for women after the war.

H EROINES Many women who helped the soldiers during the war were considered heroines and were widely celebrated. Dorothea Dix- helped reform prisons and mental hospitals. Clara Barton- earned her fame as a Civil War nurse and then went on to be the founder of the American Red Cross in Sojourner Truth, the anti-slavery leader, worked in Union hospitals and in camps for freed slaves. Sally Tompkins set up a hospital in Richmond, Virginia in hopes to improve conditions. All of these women efforts during the war illustrated the new respect and freedom that women were given from the American Civil War.

W ORK C ITED Picture 1(camp)- /CampLife.htm Picture 2(soldier)- /CampLife.htm Picture 3 (commanders)- php?1353-Civil-War-quot-director-s-chair-quot php?1353-Civil-War-quot-director-s-chair-quot Picture 4 (soldiers)- war/photos/ Picture 5 (nurses)- of-washington.html Picture 6 (camps)- ndiana42nd/campmorton.htm