Contraception and Abortion...

[5fish]

Here a topic not spoken about Contraception in the Civil war... Here is a link on the topic... Look at the names used...

http://guardianoftheartifacts.blogspot.com/2012/06/civil-war-preventative-ive-posted.html

Here is another link...

http://www.coachlightpress.com/bygone/contraception.shtml

Here is an old old thread on the topic..

http://civilwartalk.com/threads/contraception-civil-war-style.1383/

Emma Goldman pioneer....

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/birth-control-pioneer-arrested

Comstock laws 1873....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comstock_laws

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Comstock+Law+of+1873

Abortions of that age....

http://books.google.com/books?id=hG...page&q=abortions during the civil war&f=false

http://books.google.com/books?id=0m...EwCQ#v=onepage&q=abortions civil war&f=false

 

[5fish]

It show almost everything has ties or roots back to our Civil War era...

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

In Ladies Tea? Sigh. Always the woman's responsibility.

 

[5fish]

I did not know where to put it... You can have a mod move some other forum.. that museum had one section on male contraception in the civil war...

 

[James B White]

It show almost everything has ties to roots back to our Civil War era...

I'll just comment on that part. Considering that people fought the Civil War, and people continued living their lives before, during and after the war, it's not surprising that anything which can be tied to human opinions and behavior can be tied to the 1860s, as well as the 1870s, 1850s, and so forth.

It looks like you searched for the topic and "Civil War," and of course found things which used "Civil War era" as a way of dividing up the 19th century or which were written about the Civil War and therefore focused on the topic during the Civil War era. But I'm not seeing evidence at the links that the topic has specific ties to the Civil War era any more than any other sociological one which had been ongoing for decades before and after.

I'm all for putting things into context of the whole pre-war and post-war period, but that also means not separating things out as unique to the Civil War when they were in fact just part of the whole pre-war/post-war life. What specific things about the war itself do you see as affecting contraception and abortion? Comstock? Goldman? Edwin Hale? They seem more a part of the trajectory that started a couple decades pre-war and wound up post-war with a moral clampdown. There was some mention of a desire for repopulation post-war, due specifically to the war, as affecting public opinion, but do you feel that outweighs the other factors mentioned?

 

[matthew mckeon]

Keeping an eye on this one.

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

Keeping an eye on this one.

This isn't praying, it's begging- puleezeeeeeee?

 

[5fish]

I found this summary....its brief.. ,

http://www.case.edu/affil/skuyhistcontraception/online-2012/Civil-War.html

 

[Gwynplaine]

There's actually a surprisingly interesting topic to discuss regarding contraception in the era involving the lead-up and fall-out of the Civil War. Mostly regarding what people thought would work. It gives surprisingly interesting insight into the culture of the time, because these would be opinions based mostly on folk tales and what little science had yet to uncover. Like the "musket round goes through soldier's scrotum, ends up in lady's reproductive tract, has baby" myth.

 

[ami]

In Ladies Tea? Sigh. Always the woman's responsibility.

yes, we have to do all the housework.

very interesting thread... I guess I like the more taboo side of the CW

 

[ami]

I moved it back. It is quite appropriate for Ladies tea.

 

[James B White]

Like the "musket round goes through soldier's scrotum, ends up in lady's reproductive tract, has baby" myth.

What's funny is that myth seems to be believed as much or as little today as it was then. The admission was printed in the medical journal soon after so you'd think the case would be closed on that alone, but you'll still find people today asking about it and discussing it as if maybe, possibly, could it really...

Just googled some random examples of people feeling the need to debunk it today, one of which indicates it was brought back as a serious story in the early 20th Century too:
http://www.wjtv.com/story/24004701/...gun-medical-journal-prank-spreads-story-seeds
http://www.babble.com/pregnancy/woman-impregnated-by-civil-war-bullet/
http://civilwartalk.com/threads/gre...s-joke-the-famous-minie-ball-pregnancy.97398/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/deepfriedkudzu/49928622/

The last one has a poster say, perhaps purely trolling, but even then perhaps hoping he can catch a believer even if he's not one himself:

Is the story a lie? There's no sure way that we can tell.

Are the details in the account implausible? Yes or, in all fairness, they are certainly extremely unusual. Are the details in the account impossible? No. Certainly goofier things have happened. In this case, the issue (no pun intended) seems to be more about the proximity of the male and female victims to each other.

The "magic pellet" would likely have been a ricochet, perhaps itself deformed upon earlier impact (i.e.: prior to wounding the fella), and neither as hot nor as fast as the Mythbusters test indicated; moreover, both the shape and the orientation of the deformed particle could have greatly influenced its ultimate performance.

As to whether the event happened exactly as it was described, a reasonable person removed from the facts and circumstances by roughly a century and a half can only conclude, "perhaps."

 

[Gwynplaine]

Is the story a lie? There's no sure way that we can tell.

Are the details in the account implausible? Yes or, in all fairness, they are certainly extremely unusual. Are the details in the account impossible? No. Certainly goofier things have happened. In this case, the issue (no pun intended) seems to be more about the proximity of the male and female victims to each other.

The "magic pellet" would likely have been a ricochet, perhaps itself deformed upon earlier impact (i.e.: prior to wounding the fella), and neither as hot nor as fast as the Mythbusters test indicated; moreover, both the shape and the orientation of the deformed particle could have greatly influenced its ultimate performance.

As to whether the event happened exactly as it was described, a reasonable person removed from the facts and circumstances by roughly a century and a half can only conclude, "perhaps."

Oh wow. That guy hasn't got the slightest clue as to why this doesn't work.

One, lead is bad for sperm. Really bad.

Two, not all sperm were created equal, nor were they endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights.

Three, it would have to be going both fast enough to pass through the man in just the right spot to get the fully-grown sperm and still be going fast enough to hit the woman, and then find a way to get itself up into her reproductive areas without also killing her from infection(infection that would set in afterwards, that is), blood loss or any other multitude of things the average mid-19th century person was likely to die of. So basically "everything".

Four, it's still a lead round. Even IF all of the above is magicked-away and we accept it does happen, there's still the problem of the potential fetus. Lead is bad for fetuses/fetusi(?). I mean, really bad. Incomprehensibly bad. Especially back during an era where the water was likely to be lethal. Factor in birth complications, which are not going to be helped by the whole "I have ammunition in/around my womb and birth canal" and you're looking at the world's saddest birthday, because both mother & child are ending up in a pine box.

I am positive there are hundreds of other reasons as to why this could not work, but those are the ones I know for fact.

I really do loathe those kinds of answers, though. The one that tries to save face by acting like they don't really think it could happen by saying "I'm just asking questions, man" or something else equally stupid.

 

[Blessmag]

Many in the war were recorded to practice the 'bucket and saucer' method of contraception. The man would stand on a bucket and when his eyes got as large as saucers, she would kick the bucket out from under him.

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

I moved it back. It is quite appropriate for Ladies tea.

Yes, but but but Mom! He said sperm, make him stop! We don't want to know where babies come from!

 

[ami]

Yes, but but but Mom! He said sperm, make him stop! We don't want to know where babies come from!

hahaha!

 

[Lost Cause]

Yes, but but but Mom! He said sperm, make him stop! We don't want to know where babies come from!

From a bullet apparently, or maybe not.

http://civilwartalk.com/threads/gre...s-joke-the-famous-minie-ball-pregnancy.97398/

 

[jgoodguy]

Yes, but but but Mom! He said sperm, make him stop! We don't want to know where babies come from!

Babies come from long cable and electrical outages or severe ice and snow storms.

 

[Hannah]

Babies come from long cable and electrical outages or severe ice and snow storms.

Mom!! You lied to me!