The Homefront:
Women's Lives and Work
The Civil War greatly affected the lives of women, particularly in southern white society.
With many heads of households away from home serving in the military, women had to
take on many additional responsibilities. Whether it was a large plantation in north
Florida or a small subsistence farm in peninsular Florida, women often had to perform all
of the tasks that the men had done, as well as their own.
The burden fell to women on the homefront to raise their families and to make do with
less. The absence of working men, combined with the severe economic hardships
imposed by the Union naval blockade, made life difficult for the average woman in the
South. As towns along Florida's coast changed hands, the inhabitants often found
themselves as refugees in their own land--forced to relocate inland or live under Union or
Confederate occupation.
Many women served as supporters of the Confederate war effort. Groups such as the
Ladies Soldiers Friend Sewing Society in Tallahassee formed to make clothing for
southern soldiers. Others in the state organized fund-raising events to support the Florida
Hospital set up for sick and wounded Florida soldiers in Richmond, Virginia.
Civil War Day dress
NEXT
Florida's soldiers
Back to Rebels Rock
