Civil War Research

The Origin of Mother’s Day

The Origin of Mother's Day

Mother’s Day is a special day to millions of people in the United States. Not only is it one of the largest greeting card holidays of the year, it is also a time when families often get together to share their love of the mothers among them. At the very least, most mothers and women who are mother figures to others, are given phone calls, emails, and visits of appreciation. Presents and taking the mothers in question out for a meal are also common customs on this sweet day. But how did Mother’s Day get started? Did your ancestors celebrate it? This is what you need to know about Mother’s Day.

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Women in the Civil War

Women in the Civil War

By the beginning of the latter half of the 19th century, more rural women were becoming educated, and women everywhere in the United States were being treated with more respect and granted more legal privileges than in the past. They enjoyed these new freedoms, and this is why it should come as no surprise that many of them leapt on the opportunity to contribute to the Civil War in some way. It was the first war fought in the United States where they could have some official role. While there were always unofficial roles in wars for women in times past, this was their first opportunity to openly help their side’s cause. And they did so in large numbers.

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The Missouri Compromise: What Was it and How Did it Contribute to the Civil War?

The-Missouri-Compromise-What-Was-it-and-How-Did-it-Contribute-to-the-Civil-War-ancestralfindings

The Missouri Compromise was passed into law in 1820 and regulated slavery in the western states. Though it was passed forty-one years before the Civil War, it still played a large role in laying the groundwork for the war that was to come. It contributed to the division and disagreement between north and south regarding the issue of slavery and made the issue more contentious between the two sides of the country.

The Missouri Compromise was written by Henry Clay, and both pro and anti-slavery proponents in Congress agreed to it. The Compromise forbade slavery in Louisiana and any territory that was once part of it in the Louisiana Purchase. Slavery was also forbidden anywhere north of the 36/30 parallel, except within the territory of Missouri (which was being proposed as a state), where it was to be allowed.

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