Our house was divided: Kentucky women and the Civil War

Living on the border between the North and the South shaped the Civil War experience for Kentucky women and had long lasting implications for the future of the state. By 1861, Kentucky women had incorporated many aspects of daily life from both regions of the country into their worldview. As a result, Kentucky women had a distinctive perspective on the war, slavery, patriotism, and their role as women in the conflict. The Civil War exposed the fault lines in Kentucky society, complicating relationships and dividing families. The home front experience for Kentucky women was marked by the challenges of social and political divisions, causing many to carefully consider their public and private roles as political actors.;Most Kentuckians were reluctant to go to war, revealing their belief that a compromise could be reached. Kentucky women's identity was shaped by the racial order of slavery yet many felt a deep connection to the nation and the Union cause. Many Kentuckians believed that they could bridge the sectional divide, preserving both slavery and the Union. Kentucky's prolonged desire to reach a unique solution to the war by preserving the Union and slavery placed the state in a precarious position. Kentuckians were left ill prepared for the new post-slavery economy and were viewed as outsiders to the victorious Union cause. As the war progressed and the Union began to emerge as the victor, it became increasingly apparent that slavery would not survive the war. Kentuckians, who had remained part of the Union, viewed the Emancipation Proclamation and the enlistment of African Americans in the United States Army as a direct affront to their wartime sacrifices. Many Kentucky women refused to accept the demise of the slave system and became embittered by the perceived injustices of the Union strategy. By the end of the war many Kentucky women, angered by the Union's attitude toward slavery and their state, began sympathizing with the plight of the South and embraced the notion of the Lost Cause.