Uncle Tom's Cabin

Uncle Tom's Cabin By Harriet Beecher Stowe

Description

Picture courtesy of From Abolition to Equal Rights

So you're the little woman who wrote the book that started this Great War!
Abraham Lincoln (Allegedly upon meeting Harriet Beecher Stowe)

About the Author

Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) was a white, woman, born in Litchfield, Connecticut. Her father was a Congressional preacher who encouraged intellectual debates among his children and also gave anti-slavery sermons. Harriet Beecher Stowe would go on to become a teacher and have small pieces published in local magazines before writing Uncle Tom’s Cabin. She was motivated to write Uncle Tom’s Cabin by the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1950. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was first published in serial form in the abolitionist newspaper, The National Era, and in 1852 was published as a two volume novel. The book sold 10,000 copies in the first week, became the most popular novel of its era, and translated into over 60 languages. In addition to Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which was by far her most famous work, Beecher Stowe also wrote poetry, essays, and a variety of non-fiction books. She died in Andover, Massachusetts, in 1896 (Harriet Beecher Stowe House, 2005).

Plot Summary

Uncle Tom's Cabin follows the fortunes of a slave, the dutiful Uncle Tom, who is sold by his owner in Kentucky to pay off debts to Augustine St Clair in New Orleans. In the idealistic St Clair's household, young daughter Eva becomes fond of Tom and life is relatively happy. However, following the deaths of the decent St Clair and the kindly Eva, Tom is sold again but now to Simon Legree. Legree is a cotton plantation owner and treats Tom terribly, leading to his demise just before rescue belatedly arrives in the form of his original owner's son. There is also a parallel tale of another slave, Eliza, who escapes to freedom in extraordinary circumstances to lighten the tone somewhat (Bibliomania, 2006).

Social Significance

Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a boost to the anti-slavery movement in the United States and was one of the many factors that contributed to the out break of the American Civil War (Harriet Beecher Stowe House, 2005). The book brought about heated discussion on an emotional topic. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s portrayal of slavery in American was heralded by abolitionists for its realistic showing of the evils of slavery. The abolitionists used it as one more tool in their arsenal to attack the institution of slavery. At the same time that her book was being heralded by abolitionist it was being condemned by supporters of slavery. They condemned it out the grounds that it was grossly inaccurate and it also served as an example of the lengths that abolitionists would go to to condemn slavery.

Additional Links

Anti-Slavery Society
The African-American Mosaic
The Abolitionist
Anti-Racism

I told you, Cousin, that you'd find out that these creatures can't be brought up without severity. If I had my way, now, I'd send that child out, and have her thoroughly whipped; I'd have her whipped till she couldn't stand!
Chapter 25, pg. 278

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