The Women’s National Loyal League was a political association of women in support of the Union war effort during the Civil War. Thousands of women worked to help Union troops by participating in the activities of the United States Sanitary Commission, United States Christian Commission, and local soldiers’ aid societies. The hospital clothes they made and the fruits and vegetables they packed for shipment to the front symbolized traditions of domesticity females usually assumed during the 19th century. However, a growing number of women tried to support the war effort by operating in the political sphere dominated by men.
Most Northerners understood that slavery helped cause the Civil War and that resolution of the conflict
Depended on settling the questions about the position of African Americans. The debate on slavery allowed some women to assume purely political roles in their war work. They determined that the restoration of the Union depended on the emancipation of African Americans and began to plan a campaign in support of that end, calling upon women from all loyal states to join them at a convention to form the Women’s National Loyal League. The meeting took place at New York’s Church of the Puritans on May 14, 1863.
The drive toward emancipation for slaves undertaken that day built on earlier work done by women and on associations that men organized to support the Abraham Lincoln administration. Women had used the power of the petition to exert their influence in matters pertaining to abolition as early as the 1830s. They collected signatures on documents supporting various resolutions and then sent the material to sponsoring congressmen. During the Civil War, men who supported the Republican administration formed Union League Clubs. These groups tried to convince citizens to support the war effort and to undercut the influence of Peace Democrats, or Copperheads. At the same time, women founded their own Union League Clubs. Like soldiers’ aid societies, these groups used traditional, domestic approaches to support the government. By reducing their consumption of food and textiles, needed commodities were made available for the military.
The Women’s National Loyal League wanted to recognize and give moral support to the traditional work of aid societies while remaining focused on support of the government through political action. Women from more than a half-dozen states attended the first meeting. The most prominent members of the women’s movement for full citizenship rights played important roles. Lucy Stone presided, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Angelina Grimke Weld, Ernestine Rose, and Antoinette Brown Blackwell took part in the debates. The leaders announced the goal of collecting 1 million signatures on a petition calling for the emancipation of “all persons of African descent held in involuntary service in the United States.”
Not all women favored the obvious political aims of the leaders, and many objected to the feminist nature of the gathering. They believed that Lincoln needed the support of women in order to restore the Union, but they felt it more appropriate to maintain a traditional role for women. They favored conservation of household goods, a focus on stimulating patriotism, and direct support of soldiers by writing letters to the men and similar philanthropic activities. When the leaders of the convention refused to alter their plans, many of the conservative delegates withdrew.
Despite such objections, the organizers created a national association. Membership cost a one-dollar fee and allowed members to wear the league’s pin, which had the figure of a slave whose chains had been broken and the words, “In Emancipation is national unity.” The initial goal of mere emancipation for slaves changed as a result of violence against African Americans and others during the New York City draft riots in 1863. Following those events, the Loyal League petitioned for citizenship for all Africans Americans.
By 1864 the group had more than 5,000 members. Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts presented their documents to the political leaders. Their work resulted in more than 20,000 petitions with more than 400,000 signatures. Although their labors did not lead directly to full citizenship for African Americans or women, the Women’s National Loyal League, born in war and trained in the political battle of emancipation, gave women experience in the political world from which they would ultimately gain full citizenship rights.
See also ladies aid societies; women’s status and rights.
Further reading: Wendy Hamand Venet, Neither Ballots nor Bullets: Wo-men Abolitionists and the Civil War (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1991).
—Karen Kehoe
World History
