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After James and Mary are wed, they move into Mulberry Plantation south of Camden where sisters of the groom are already living. This proves to be a difficult time for Mary because as a new bride and a strong willed woman younger than the women of the house, the competition is fierce. Additionally, Mary discovered through her reading that this rural life was not the life she had envisioned for herself. Indeed, she was destined for larger cities and grand ballrooms filled with revelers. .
Although she was a child and now a wife of the south, and a member of one of the most respected families of the south, she despised slavery. Being a member of an influential family however came with the cruelty of slave ownership. One of the house people she always spoke fondly of had stated "I would just die if Mrs. Chesnut had to ask me for anything". This too Mary was repulsed by. However, she also found herself ridiculously referring to the abolitionists as clowns without the make-up. This confusion was the beginning of Mary's interest in politics.
As Mary's interest in politics escalated, her husbands" role in politics to increased and this very much pleased Mary. He had become a U.S. Senator but resigned his seat at the election of President Lincoln. This was the beginning of the secessionist's convention and Mary's husband James was to be at the forefront of the movement. The Union was not to stand if the seceding states had it their way and as the Secessionists meeting convened South Carolina, the secession document had been officially drafted, presented and South Carolina had seceded from the Union. With husband James so involved in the war planning and conducting of a new government, Mary was caught in a whirlwind of historical events. It is at this time she started her journal that would become "The Diary of Dixie". It is also about this time that Mary runs into an old friend from school, Mrs. Varina Davis" who happens to be the wife of Jefferson Davis, soon to be the first president of the Confederate States.