Clara Barton and Society

History and Society

Introduction

Clara Barton is known in history for the efforts he made in the battlefields of civil war and for establishing the American Red Cross, which is one of the major humanitarian organizations in United States. The founder was initially inspired by the Swiss Red Cross, and thus she started a campaign for establishing American Red Cross. She has left significant on American society, particularly on women, by teaching them how to help the people and reduce the suffering. This paper discusses briefly how Clara Barton has affected the American society.

Discussion

Clara Barton earned fame and popularity for being a devoted nurse and then the founder of Red Cross. She was working as a clerk in some office, when the civil war began; she started going to the battlefields nearby, and initially assisted the nurses working there by providing them with supplies and any necessary assistance. Prior to the role of Clara Barton as a nurse, women were highly discouraged to work as nurses, particularly for serving the ill and wounded in any official capacity. The major sources of discouragement were the administrators and the surgeons working for the military forces. Therefore, the women who wanted to serve in the battlefields had to prove their capability. In addition to their professional expertise, they also had to prove that they were strong enough to work in the chaotic and dangerous environments surrounded completely by stranger men and soldiers.

Clara did not only change the bandages and dispense medicine in the civil war, but she also did laundry, wrote and read the letters for the wounded soldiers, cooked meals for them, and passed out the supplies. One of the distinctions Clara got was due to the refusal she made when the wounded soldiers were beings brought to the rear of ...