Stereotypes in the Civil War

I am currently reading The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman in my English class. This novel sheds light on the many stereotypes created in the time of the civil war. Most of them are inaccurate. For example, a common stereotype about white southerners back then was that all of them despised black people. People thought that all the southerners wanted to do was bring harm to them. In this novel, the situation is quite contrary. Jane and Ned, two newly freed black children, come across an old man during their journey through Louisiana, and he helps them track out their route to Ohio. Although he was a little discouraging, he pointed the children in the right direction.