AP Success - AP US History: Northerner's Perspective on the South
Northerners who moved to the South during the antebellum period found themselves in a very different place than the one they had left.
When we entered Savannah we were astonished at the number of blacks; but now they have become quite familiar to us, We find it no inconvenience at all to be waited upon. I have one and sometimes two to attend me. And can find them sufficient employment. I like their manner of living here, better than at the North they have a greater variety of dishes, and the most of them entirely different from ours. . . . I designed to write you a long letter, but Mrs [S]ansom’s Coach is wa[i]ting for us to ride. I will leave the remainder till I return; perhaps I shall get some new ideas. We ride in state I assure you, with blacks on all sides. One little Negro stands behind the Carriage; With a face shining like a glass bottle. To appearance as happy as if worth thousands.
"A Northerner’s View of Southern Slavery," Gilder Lehrman, 1821.
Question 1
Briefly identify one perspective of the South described in the excerpt.
Question 2
Briefly identify one historical development that influenced the observations made in the excerpt.
Question 3
Briefly compare one way the author's opinions are similar to or different from those held by abolitionists.
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