Political Views

These data visualizations are comprised of selected letters to her parents. Terms have been selected within each section to help better understand Williams's thoughts and opinions on the state of politics from the 1840's through late 1860's.

Figure 8.a: From this tool we can see in which Context Williams wrote her parents regarding politics. Williams spent a great deal of time discussing the potential war between the North and South. We can chart the change in her views over time. For example, when Williams is younger she saw the good in the abolitionist movement. But the longer she stayed in the South, Williams viewed the abolitionists as those who stirred up trouble. Try typing in different terms such as whig, republican, South, and abolitionist.

Figure 8.b: This tool is called Terms and charts relative frequencies. This tool visualizes the frequency and repetition of words Williams used to write about politics. Williams used a variety of terms and phrases when writing about politics to her parents. She used blood and guns as descriptors when discussing politics but more direct terms when writing about specific aspects in a more direct way. Try typing in different terms such as confederacy, abolitionist, slaves, guns, union, republican, blood, legislation, secession, democratic, whig, annexed, emancipation, and whig.

Figure 8.c: This Mandala works as magnet, connecting work frequencies to different dates. Williams wrote her thoughts and feelings on different political topics, from legislation, the nation, and to different political parties. From this tool we can see how Williams's uncle influenced her early letters regarding politics.

Examining political beliefs

As she adapted to her new home in the South, Sarah Hicks Williams adopted many of the region's political views. Williams's political views when she was younger, align with Northern views on morality, influenced by her older sister Mary. In September 24, 1848 Williams explicitly stated to her parents in a letter that she is "republican" (September 24, 1848). This is the only mention she makes of her political associations. Williams continually prays for the Union, not wanting a division. For her, political division meant that she might not see her family again. Williams reads Northern papers, including the New York Observer. She is aware of the divisiveness in the country not just by her daily interactions but what was written about the strong disagreement over slavery, Lincoln, and politics.

Thanks to the influence of her older sister Mary and her husband James, who lived in Ashtabula, Ohio, and considered themselves abolitionists, Sarah had an acute awareness of the abolition movement. Scholars have shown that middle-class women, including those in the Northeast and Old Northwest (Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana), used the abolition agenda to move beyond the household, to circulate abolition speeches and papers, for example (Jeffrey, 89). Sarah and her sisters grew up in a class that afforded them opportunities others did not have, a chance to widen in a public sphere. This was a time when middle-class women began redefining their work, as they were forced to confront the changing social and political context of benevolence (Ginzberg, 100). While Mary welcomes these changes and becomes part of a widening sphere for women, Sarah in marrying Benjamin, rejects them. Her transition from northern woman to southern slaveholder helps to shape her political outlook, which is dependent upon men. Confederate ideology affirmed feminine dependence on men. Maintaining traditional gender roles played a major role in Southern pro-slavery propaganda; meaning that women were concerned about how this divide would change their status and role within the household (McCurry, 26). Sarah's main objective after her marriage to Benjamin and moving to North Carolina is to uphold Southern virtues through successful management of the home. However, Sarah's middle-class background and education gives her an advantage in this area as already possess the knowledge to perform such tasks like cooking, knitting, and maintaining finances.

Williams's husband Benjamin moved the family several times around North Carolina and Georgia before finally settling in Ware County Georgia in the years leading up to the war. Williams's letters describe the areas as heavily wooded, allowing more time for political thought and reading of New York papers. Her opposition to the war was a position felt by plantation mistresses over the South. In her last letter to her parents right before the start of the Civil War, Williams wrote to her parents sharing her feelings on impending war: "I tell you now that Lincoln has played the aggressor, he'll have to leave every inch of Southern soil. I need not tell you there is excitement, it is more than that, it is determination, it is the spirit of '76, the will to conquer or die" (April 28, 1861). Though caught up in the anticipation of war, Williams is also preparing for a long battle. She tells her parents she has started "knitting homegrown & cotton for next winter" having "five pair of stockings about done & shall have enough for the family before they need them" (April 28, 1861). Williams's constant knitting indicates she is settling in for a longer battle than some anticipate. She is able to get several letters out of the South during the war but is concerned at the lack of letters she has received from her family. Williams receives only one letter from the North, from her parents but none from her sisters Mary or Lucinda. In her last two letters to her parents before the end of the war in January and February 1865, Williams wrote only of her excitement for her children. She does not mention the hardships of war but rather of the accomplishments of her children, and their love for stories of Sarah's childhood. It is also evident in these letters that Sarah is confident she will never return the home she once knew, despite praying that she might see her parents once more.