American Scenes and Christian Slavery

Abstract

First published in 1849, American Scenes and Christian Slavery is a description, in epistolary format, of American life, nature, culture, and its slave trade during the nineteenth century, as observed by a British abolitionist, Ebenezer Davies, during his travels through the United States. Davies had been the minister of Mission Chapel, New Amsterdam, and in this collection of letters, he offers valuable contemporary perspectives on the people and the manners of America as they appeared to him during a journey of over four thousand miles. A favourable reception of a few similar letters that were published in the Patriot magazine paved the way for the preparation of this book. The book's 37 chapters record the author's impressions of Ohio, the river Mississippi and the cities of New Orleans, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. Davies' travelogue is a witty account of an English traveller's experiences of nineteenth-century America.