One of the ironies of U.S. Women’s History is that war, by disrupting the normal lives of men and women, oftentimes brings greater independence and empowerment for women. This will certainly be true of later wars that we will examine. This week we want to examine women in the U.S. Civil War. Your primary source reading this week, Women on the Civil War Battlefields, provides us with examples of numerous women and the roles (nurse, spy, soldier) that they played. After reading these accounts, in what ways do you think these activities contributed to greater independence for women? Use specific examples from the text.