The Role Of African American Women During The Civil War

On April 12, 1861 the Civil War broke out due to the unyielding distinctions regarding free and slave states regarding the power of the national government forbidding slavery in the unpopulated areas. Over the course of the war as the Union infiltrated Confederacy territory many Union officials recognized an intellectual advantage by utilizing the African American population. Herbert Aptheker, who was an American Marxist historian and political enthusiast declared, "The greatest source of military and naval intelligence, particularly on the tactical level, for the Federal government during the war was the Negro." The Union’s tactical utilization of African American espionage during the Civil War enhances military advantages by employing black …show more content…
However, these ideals altered during the Civil War because many women played a pivotal role in the war effort. Caucasian and African American women in the Civil War performed the most high-ranking perceptible roles regarding leadership, courage, and bravery during the Civil War. These women wanted to secure their own freedom as individuals by escaping slavery or refusing to be their husband’s shadow. The most influential and impressive influence accomplished by these women were their work as spies and contributors in the war effort. Harriet Tubman in, Harriet Tubman, Secret Agent: How Daring Slaves and Free Blacks Spied for the Union During the Civil War, demonstrates the significance of a brave and independent female African American role. This particular novel depicts Harriet as a Union spy and an escaped female slave, who chances her life on numerous occasions to guide other runaway slaves to freedom. Harriet is a well known famous African American female during the Civil War due to a secret network of the underground railroad. During the Civil War more than four hundred women impersonated men and fought for the Union or Confederate armies. Sarah Emma Edmond, a famous contraband, transformed her skin color from white to black using a weak solution of nitrate and silver in order to gain knowledge as a Union spy. In her autobiography she states “the officers...forget that there were darkies around, and would speak their minds freely” (Edmond 56). Sarah represents the measures females did go to in time of war to show their independence. Many men in the war did not suspect women working as nurses to be spies, thus allowing women to go undetected while relinquishing information to the enemies. Women would hide messages