Southern Culture

Williams wrote a great deal about her experiences in the South upon her arrival. Between 1853-1855, her letters examined feelings on Southern culture and adaption to society.

Figure 9.a: This Correlations tool enables the user to look at the extent to which term frequencies vary in sync (frequencies that rise and fall together). Term two is where we can search for terms and term one shows the in-sync term. From this tool we can see Williams's thoughts on North society, home, the South, and the wardrobe she ordered from New York City. Williams spent a great deal of time concerned over the status of the item.

Figure 9.b: By looking at a Terms graph we can see the frequency and distribution of terms within Williams's letters. Home, plantation, North, and South are terms used frequently and closely together. During the early period of her marriage Williams reflected on differences in the North and South, the plantation and her old home in New York. In between, Williams discussed feels on living in the South, which during this time she felt isolated but began to make peace with her new place in society.

Figure 9.c: By searching terms in their Context, we gain a more insight into Williams's thoughts and feelings regarding her position as a Northerner in the South. One quote in particular in document six Williams said that "things that northerners consider essential are of no..." continues on to say "consequence." We see how different she viewed northern women and southern women, and found that Southern women to be much more prepared and ready to take over household duties upon marriage. Additional terms to search can include: party, South, wardrobe, kindness, housekeeping, home, plantation, house, and advises.

How Sarah Hicks Williams viewed Northern and Southern culture

Sarah Hicks Williams's transition to Noth Carolina occurred in 1853. She referred to herself as a "stranger in a strange land" (October 22, 1853). Williams wrote her parents about erring in dress style and party etiquette, recalled how party guests stay until morning. She feels she is a spectacle at parties with fancier dress and different style of speech. Williams felt at out of place coming from the North into elite Southern society. Williams felt inadequately prepared for plantation life. She blamed her lack of domestic training for her deficient skills as a homemaker. Yet, her upbringing paralleled girls in the South; she had a childhood of leisure and play, much like that of an elite plantation girl. Williams married at a time of a new rising Southern middle-class, while in the North, women began finding ways of expanding their sphere outside the home. Her behavior modeled some of new southern middle class. New wealth rallied around culture from friends in the North and adapted it to fit slavery (Wells, 11). This is very similar to how Williams acted when she first moved to North Carolina.

Little differences in tastes and behavior pushed Williams to want things from home. Sarah frequently requested reading materials from home including the New York Observer, a conservative Presbyterian paper that focused on religious topics and viewpoints (Library of Congress Online Catalog). Southerners consumer large amounts of Northern literature even as hostilities increased (Wells, 46). Intellectual endeavors like this remained important to Sarah as she was isolated from conversation and adjusted conversations to focus more around family and plantation life. Williams used Northern goods to connect to a life she left behind.

Williams preference for Northern material goods spread to housing and fashion. When she shopped for a new wardrobe, she bought one from New York City and had it shipped to her. As we can see from Figure 9.a, Williams wrote about the wardrobe frequently. In addition, she found her dresses too plain for elite Southern society. She found it all rather shallow-the emphasis on fashion and parties, without substantive conversation. At the same time, however, Williams felt she did not fit in and like a bit of a curiosity because of her views, clothes, and overall lack of preparation for Southern life.

Another aspect of Williams's life that changes is her relationship to the church. Williams found services in the South geared towards the "illiterate in the South" and notes the congregation split evenly between whites and blacks (November 7, 1853). She does not find the preaching and sermon style respectable in North Carolina. Rebecca Fraser speculates this could be because Williams is attempting to reconcile slavery and her religious notions (Fraser, 111). Williams eventually, at least in appearance to her parents, comes back around to worshiping in a Baptist congregation rather than in private. Williams wrote to her parents of how hopeful she is when a new preacher moved into Burn Fort in 1857.

Though Williams fulfilled her duties, managing slaves and raising her children, she quickly adapted to Southern differences. Despite this, Williams's requests for goods from the North continued. She requested good fabric from New York as well as a stove and discusses the stove for several weeks. Williams is astounded by the fact that the stove is not inside the kitchen of her home in North Carolina and makes correcting this a priority. Williams is both anxious and excited; she wants the best products available and for her, those products come from the North.