The Civil War represented the biggest conflict on American soil during the 19th century. North and South, deeply divided over issues like slavery, commercial enterprise, and Westward expansion, mounted a military offensive against each other that threatened to make the foundling nation a house divided. If we wish to examine the situation of Jewish women in early American history, the Civil War represents a unique opportunity for so doing. This is particularly true when it came to Jewish women in the South, many of who were supportive of and loyal to the Confederacy. By examining source documents of the era, we are able to reveal a great deal about the experiences of these Confederate Jewish immigrants, including not only their views and experiences during the conflict but also the examination uncovers many facets of their daily lifestyle.
We learn much about the character of Jewish women in early American society from examining source documents of the period during the Civil War. One theme that appears to repeat itself when it comes to these Jewish women is their fortitude, courage, and an unwillingness to surrender their hope. We would see a century later that many Jewish women who survived the atrocities of Hitler’s Germany were endowed with similar qualities. If we look at the diary of Eleanor Cohen Seixas, recorded from February 28, 1865 through September 10, 1865, we see a young woman with such determination “I have been in the habit of keeping a journal for ten years, from the time of girlish beatitude, ‘sweet sixteen,’ up to the mature age I have reached, twenty-six! All the labors of years, all the records of my girlish triumphs, of my first love, all have been destroyed, and yet I am determined to recommence my labors, to rebuild, from the ashes of despair, a new record, and enthrone blue-eyed hope as the presiding deity” (Cohen Seixas 1).
Like many other young Southern women, Cohen Seixas details how ...