it is sometimes hard to understand why southerners who did not own slaves would defend the practice of slavery. in the south at that time, slaves did not just work on plantations. there were over 4 million blacks were enslaved in the south and they far outnumbered white people. in cities like charleston, south carolina, slaves worked at various jobs such as carpenters, blacksmiths, bricklayers and street sweeper. they performed every kind of manual labor. they raised the family's children, cooked, cleaned and served the food to their masters. a visitor to charleston commented “charleston looks more like a negro country than a country settled by white people”.