Assignment Active
Citing Textual Evidence
Dawson states that war makes "even the hearts of
women" bitter. How does she support this claim?
May 9th
This is a dreadful war, to make even the hearts of women
so bitter! I hardly know myself these last few weeks. I,
who have such a horror of bloodshed, consider even
killing in self-defense murder, who cannot wish them the
slightest evil, whose only prayer is to have them sent back
in peace to their own country, -I talk of killing them!..
O! if I was only a man! Then I could don the breeches,
and slay them with a will! If some few Southern women
were in the ranks, they could set the men an example
they would not blush to follow. Pshaw! there are no
women here! We are all men!
-A Confederate Girl's Diary,
Sarah Morgan Dawson
O She describes her wish to be able to fight in the
conflict like a man could
She explains how the roles of women changed
during the Civil War.
x She includes quotations from other women that
explain their feelings about the war.
She cites several statistics related to women taking
part in battles in the conflict.