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established years prior to the Civil War that women were naturally inferior in men and thus are

to be exalted and serve their fellow man (Doc G). This idea constituted the principles of

republican motherhood as women became expected to support man rather than be given the same

responsibilities.

Women had begun to expand into other sections of the economy, as it became a time

where a woman could not afford to be unemployed and dependant on the income of other men.

This led to an increase of females in fabric related industries , with the greatest growth displayed

in the production of hats ( Doc C). Because making clothes had been already established as a

preferably feminine ordeal as shown by the growing trend of women making their own clothes to

contribute to the war effort (Doc A) , the concentration of women employed in the fabric

industry grew, while more “manly” jobs such as construction and military service (Besides

nursing) were prohibited as it didn’t fit the ideals current at the time. Even with social traditions

binding women to very particular roles, the start of the Civil War took many men away from

their homes and thus left the previously masculine jobs such as farm work in the hands of

women as husbands were drafted into the Civil War (Doc I). While women were becoming more

accepted in certain industries, the ideals held within the “cult of domesticity” made the idea of a

woman working in an industrialized work environment looked down upon. A female factory

worker has on record revealed that the idea of being a “factory” girl was beneath the public

image of woman and was thus often avoided by other women (Doc D). This overall shows that

the financial role of women in society made slow but gradual changes against the ideas of the

“cult of domesticity”.

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