Clara Barton's Analysis

There were countless women throughout American History who wished to make an impact on American Wars, but strict gender roles prohibited their involvement. Some responded by attempting to pass themselves off as men, entering wars such as the American Civil War and the Spanish-American War. These women made a small, individual impact, despite the expectations of their gender, but their names are not commonly known today. Fame certainly wasn’t their intention, but it can be a somewhat superficial measurement of their success. Clara Barton is a very different story, because while she believed that a woman is capable of the same things that a man is, she believed that a woman’s accomplishments should be her own.
Barton grew up with a military …show more content…
It was this experience and dedication that she would later apply to make the changes she wished to see in her country. She admitted, at one point, that her mindset of gender-equality wasn’t some sort of revolutionary statement, or moment of clarity, but simply the way that she had always seen the world. She wrote: “I must have been born believing in the full rights of women to all the privileges and position which nature and justice accord her in common with other human beings. Perfectly equal rights--human rights. There was never any question in my mind in regard to this” (LaFantasie, 2014). This is what separated Barton from other women in American history; Barton set out only to good, and in the wake of her deeds she set an example to be followed. On the other hand, many of the women who intended to set an example for women ended up playing a ruthless political game, like Alice Paul (Woloch, 257). Barton’s first deed was opening New Jersey’s first ever free public school. She began the year teaching with only six students, and ended the year with a school of six hundred (Burton, 17-18). By