Social Impact of the Civil War
African Americans, Common Soldiers, and the Home Front
African Americans
The Emancipation Proclamation
- This was issued on January 1, 1863 by president Abraham Lincoln
- It allowed for the enlistment of African American soldiers
Common Soldiers
- War was now hand-to-hand combat
- The letters home and the diaries prove the brutality of the war
- After the war, soldiers would come home to destroyed homes and poverty.
- Soldiers would be left with permanent disabitlites
Women
- At this point in time, the women were the head of the houses
- they had to live with scarce resources
- they would often go hungry
- they got new roles in agricultural, nursing, and wartime industries