Overview

This volume explores the lives and works of nine Northern women who wrote during the Civil War period, examining the ways in which, through their writing, they engaged in the national debates of the time. Lyde Sizer shows that from the 1850 publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin through Reconstruction, these women, as well as a larger mosaic of lesser-known writers, used their mainstream writings publicly to make sense of war, womanhood, Union, slavery, republicanism, heroism, and death. Among the authors discussed are Lydia Maria Child, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Sara Willis Parton (Fanny Fern), Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth, Mary Abigail Dodge (Gail Hamilton), Louisa May Alcott, Rebecca Harding Davis, and Elizabeth Stuart Phelps. Although direct political or partisan power was denied to women, these writers actively participated in discussions of national issues through their sentimental novels, short stories, essays, poetry, and letters to the editor. Sizer pays close attention to how these mostly middle-class women attempted to create a ""rhetoric of unity,"" giving common purpose to women despite differences in class, race, and politics. This theme of unity was ultimately deployed to establish a white middle-class standard of womanhood, meant to exclude as well as include.

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9780807825549

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Reviews

Clearly and insightfully written, the book makes a strong contribution to the literature on the Civil War and helps fill a void on Northern women's Civil War experience. (Nina Silber, Boston University) A tremendously engaging study of Civil War era gender arrangements and political culture.Matthew Frye Jacobson, Yale University Engaging and impressively researched. . . . Valuable. Journal of American History A thorough study of female assertions of political power through written discourse. Her account is expansive and complex. Journal of American Studies A tremendously engaging study of Civil War era gender arrangements and political culture.Matthew Frye Jacobson, Yale University Will be of interest to historians and literary critics alike. American Historical Review Impressively researched and clearly written. American Studies

Clearly and insightfully written, the book makes a strong contribution to the literature on the Civil War and helps fill a void on Northern women's Civil War experience. (Nina Silber, Boston University) A tremendously engaging study of Civil War era gender arrangements and political culture.Matthew Frye Jacobson, Yale University A tremendously engaging study of Civil War era gender arrangements and political culture.Matthew Frye Jacobson, Yale University A thorough study of female assertions of political power through written discourse. Her account is expansive and complex. Journal of American Studies Engaging and impressively researched. . . . Valuable. Journal of American History Impressively researched and clearly written. American Studies Will be of interest to historians and literary critics alike. American Historical Review

A tremendously engaging study of Civil War era gender arrangements and political culture.<p>Matthew Frye Jacobson, Yale University

Clearly and insightfully written, the book makes a strong contribution to the literature on the Civil War and helps fill a void on Northern women's Civil War experience. (Nina Silber, Boston University) A tremendously engaging study of Civil War era gender arrangements and political culture.Matthew Frye Jacobson, Yale University Will be of interest to historians and literary critics alike. American Historical Review A thorough study of female assertions of political power through written discourse. Her account is expansive and complex. Journal of American Studies A tremendously engaging study of Civil War era gender arrangements and political culture.Matthew Frye Jacobson, Yale University Engaging and impressively researched. . . . Valuable. Journal of American History Impressively researched and clearly written. American Studies

Author Information

Lyde Cullen Sizer teaches U.S. cultural and intellectual history, Civil War history, and women's history at Sarah Lawrence College.

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