Elite Southern Women Prior to the Civil War

Prior to the Civil War, the South was a society based on strict racial and gender hierarchies. Seemingly, elite southern women did not advocate for social and political change because they were content not to disrupt the gender hierarchy of their society. Their subordinacy to elite southern men and their society's view of ladylike characteristics was central to how southern women defined themselves. In order to advocate for change, elite southern women would have had to become unladylike and willing to give up a lifestyle that made them comfortable. Ultimately, since these women were not comfortable changing or giving up their lifestyle, most did nothing to aid social and political change.

One of the main goals in the life of an elite southern woman was to be continually regarded as a lady. While some southern women privately disagreed with the popular social and political mindsets of their era, most of their opinions were not so strong that they felt the need to publicly advocate for change. This was mainly due to the fact that if a woman expressed her opinion publicly, she would be seen as unladylike, which would be a blow to her reputation, the cornerstone of how she defined herself. In the book Mothers of Invention, Drew Gilpin Faust gives the reader Lucy Wood as an example of an elite southern woman who had a negative opinion of the African slave trade. In a letter to her future husband, Lucy Wood expressed that she felt the African slave trade was “extremely revolting,” however, she was also quick to add “[but] I have no political opinion and have a peculiar dislike of all females who discuss such matters.” (10). This elite southern woman was apparently more concerned with her own ladylike reputation than standing up for ...

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...ife,” yet without male protection and slaves they would have been “mere domestic drudges” (Faust 250). In word others, elite southern women did not have the desire to change their society, in fact, most were incapable of imagining any other way of life.

In conclusion, elite southern women were very comfortable with the lifestyle that their society afforded them. Even if they did have opposing social and political views, these views were not more important to them than the way of life that they allowed to define themselves. On the whole, elite southern women were unwilling to give up their ladylike demure and the comfort that their husbands and slaves gave them in order to foster social and political change for themselves and those they considered inferior. Thus, the majority of elite southern women did nothing to advocate for the changes that their society needed.