A Book That Changed The World
Introduction and Thesis
When “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” was published, slavery was still a political issue in the United States. The book captured the attention of many Americans, 300,000 Americans to, be exact! “Stowe wrote the novel to rally others to the antislavery movement as a result of her outrage about the institution of slavery in the Southern United States” (MacKenzie). It has been over 150 years since “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” was published and, it still an asset for U.S. History. “Her success in persuading readers to join her cause was in large part due to the powerful emotions aroused by her text; readers were so overcome that they cried openly over the heart-wrenching story of Uncle Tom and Eliza” (MacKenzie). Stowe’s compelling story touched many American’s both black and white. Her story had such a profound effect on people and changed many people’s attitudes toward African Americans. Her story would have an impact on U.S. history forever.
About The Author
Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe was an American abolitionist and author. She was born in June 1811 in Connecticut. Growing up, she was heavily influenced by her family and was very involved in African Amerian’s rights. Stowe met her husband in 1836, and together, they had seven children. In 1850, Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Law, which prohibited assisting fugitives and strengthening sanctions even in free states. “According to Stowe herself, the story took shape in her mind while she was in church, where she had a vision of a saintly black man being mercilessly flogged, yet praying for his torturers as he died” (MacKenzie). “June 1851, when she was 40, the first installment of Uncle Tom’s Cabin was published in serial form in the newspaper The National Era (Wikipedia). Uncle Tom’s Cabin, published in book form on March 20, 1852, “Initially published in a print run of only 5,000 copies, the book subsequently kept 14 presses running day and night and sold 300,000 copies in the United States alone” (MacKenzie). “Her novel added to the debate about abolition and slavery and aroused opposition in the South. In the South, Stowe was depicted as out of touch, arrogant, and guilty of slander” (Wikipedia). In her later years, Stowe purchased a property in Jacksonville, Florida, about a year after the Civil War. She later returned to Connecticut, where Stowe was among the founders of the Hartford Art School, which later became part of the University of Hartford. In 1886, Stowe’s husband passed away, and her health quickly declined. Stowe started to suffer from dementia. “Harriet Beecher Stowe died on July 01, 1896, in Connecticut, 17 days after her 85th birthday. She is buried in the historic cemetery at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, with her husband and their son” (Wikipedia).
About The Book
Uncle Tom’s Cabin tells the story of Uncle Tom, portrayed as a saintly slave. Mr. Shelby sells his faithful slave, Tom, and Eliza’s son, Harry. Eliza escapes with her son while Tom was sold south. The slave trader chases Eliza, but she jumps across a river just in time to reach freedom. Aided by the Quakers, she is joined by her husband, and they begin to make their way towards Canada. While being transported by boat to auction in New Orleans, Tom saves the life of Little Eva, whose father then purchases Tom. Eva and Tom become great friends. Eva’s health begins to decline quickly, and on her, she asks her dad to free all his slaves. He makes plans to do so but is killed in a bar fight. Mrs. Shelby then sells all of the slaves, and a brutal man Simon Legree becomes Tom’s new owner. Tom makes friends with Legree’s mistress, Cassy. Tom maintained his Christian faith while suffering. Tom helps Cassy escape, and Legree kills him because he refuses to reveal where she and other runaway slaves went. George Shelby, the son of Mr. Shelby, comes to save Tom, but is too late and must bury him instead. Tom’s story ends in tragedy, while George and Eliza’s lives lead them to Canada.
“Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin specifically in order to illustrate the evil and inhumanity of slavery to her mid-19th century American readers, for whom slavery was a current and heated political issue” (Shmoop). The book touched on themes like slavery, race, religion, love, suffering, and violence. Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin with one idea in mind, and that was serious. “In keeping with the highly religious society of the time, Harriet Beecher Stowe takes on a preacherly and highly didactic tone in this novel in a way that suits her purposes as stated in her preface: “Every influence of literature … in our times is becoming more and more in unison with the great master chord of Christianity, ‘goodwill to man’” (xiii)” (MacKenzie). The book’s primary purpose was to educate Americans and to tell the truth about how horrible southern slave owners treated these individuals.
Legacy
Uncle Tom’s Cabin broke open what slave life was like to Northerns. “Uncle Tom’s Cabin outraged people in the American South. The novel was also roundly criticized by slavery supporters” (Wikipedia). Even though the book was controversial, it still has been a part of U.S. history. “Many Civil Rights leaders critiqued the novel for reinforcing hateful stereotypes. Stowe depicts slaves who embody popular stereotypes of black Americans in the mid-nineteenth century, including the “happy darky,” “the tragic mulatto,” “mammy,” and most famously, it constructed the stereotype of the “Uncle Tom” (BattleField). Uncle Tom’s Cabin being so controversial for its period helped other authors publish other controversial novels. In response to Uncle Tom’s Cabin, many authors were writing what was called Anti-Tom literature which, “generally took a pro-slavery viewpoint, arguing that the issues of slavery as depicted in Stowe’s book were overblown and incorrect” (Wikipedia). “In response to these criticisms, in 1853, Stowe published A Key to Uncle Tom’s Cabin, an attempt to document the veracity of the novel’s depiction of slavery (Wikipedia). This novel, too, was a best seller. In A Key to Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Stowe’ analyzed the legal system and how it supported slavery. “Thus, Stowe put more than slavery on trial; she put the law on trial. The novel continued a vital theme of Uncle Tom’s Cabin — that the shadow of law brooded over the institution of slavery and allowed owners to mistreat slaves and then avoid punishment for their mistreatment (Wikipedia).
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel helped shape the future for the Civil War and sometimes is considered one of the reasons for the war. It’s said that when President Abraham Lincoln met her years after the book was published, he commented to her, “So this is the little lady who started this great war.” Harriet herself made a comment that I believe describes the book, and it impacts in American History, “The truth is the kindest thing we can give folks in the end.”
Work’s Cited
Battlefields. (2020, June 05). Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Retrieved July 21, 2020, from https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/uncle-toms-cabin
MacKenzie, Cindy. “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” Student’s Encyclopedia of Great American Writers, Volume 2, Facts On File, 2010. Bloom’s Literature, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=95547&itemid=WE54&articleId=481793. Accessed July 20, 2020.
Shmoop Editorial Team. (2008, November 11). Uncle Tom’s Cabin Introduction. Retrieved July 19, 2020, from https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/literature/uncle-toms-cabin
Wikipedia. (2020, July 16). Harriet Beecher Stowe. Retrieved July 18, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Beecher_Stowe
