Includes bibliographical references (pages 255-276) and index.

"Cutter argues that "redemptive womanhood"--The idea that women hold active responsibility for the nation's moral and religious health - is the key element of gender ideology in antebellum and Civil War America. In this era, society for the first time allowed and encouraged women's involvement in the public sphere, as long as it was done for the good of the country. The idea of redemptive womanhood prepared women to go to any lengths to defend their nation. During the Civil War, this ideology encouraged women, particularly those from the North, to organize relief efforts, nurse soldiers, and even enlist in the army disguised as men." "Exploring the ways in which nineteenth-century women transformed American society, Domestic Devils, Battlefield Angels sheds new light on a gender ideology that fostered public participation and action - even violence - in the name of women's redemptive moral power."--Jacket.

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