Slavery In Harriett Beecher Stowe's Uncle Toms Cabin

1692 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: How uncle toms cabin relates to slavery issues in 1850s

Uncle Toms Cabin gives a deeper understanding of the hardships of slavery in America and how these people were treated, in a country that was supposed to be of all men created equal. Though this book goes deeper than what is presented at face value, though racism is also a very large and important part of this story. Harriett Beecher Stowe reveals more in her novel than just the terrible acts of slavery, and what it was like to be stuck as a slave with no way out. In this story she gives two different perspectives in my opinion, one of tremendous sorrow, and struggle as we follow Tom throughout the story and feel and see the pain and hardships he must endure. And the other of Eliza who does a extremely courageous thing in trying to smuggle her son off the plantation in order to save her son from being sold to a coarse slave owner. Uncle Toms Cabin is a book that illustrates not only the need to end slavery and the incompatibility of slavery with the values of Christianity, but emotionalism, the importance of keeping ones faith, as well as women being viewed as equals.
In this novel as previously stated, we follow two distinct paths, which Stowe tries to illustrate for the reader. Tom is a man whom is not content with his situation, he is not happy to be viewed as an inferior being to people who are all the same, aside from the color of their skin. Tom is a great example of a devout Christian; he truly believes in the religion and practices what he preaches. He shows examples throughout the book of treating others, as he wants to be treated, though he hardly ever receives the same courtesy from others. The other road this book takes is a mothers struggle, Eliza, to find salvation for her and her family, when she hears th...

... middle of paper ...

... faced, nor the terrible people he becomes involved with to change him as a true Christian, keeping his faith in religion and believening God to make all things better for him through time. His death could be seen as Toms salvation, allowing for him to finally come to peace and live freely. Lastly, Stowe shows the importance of women in a time when nobody was truly giving womens rights and abilitities much thought, instead in a way suppressing them much like they did the slaves. In a time when slavery was the main issue, Stowe was able to lay the framework for womens rights, though we would not see much progress for years to come. All of the important issues Stowe saw in her life were put forth in this book, allowing Stowe to speak freely and help shed light on these issues so others could see the true problems and what was truly going on, in these horrid times.

Show More
Related

  • The Effects Of Uncle Tom's Cabin

    825 Words  | 2 Pages

    When Abraham Lincoln met Harriet Beecher Stowe, he said, “So, this is the little lady who made this big war”(“History.com Staff”2). After Stowe published Uncle Tom’s Cabin, there was a rumor that this book led to the Civil War. Uncle Tom’s Cabin turned a lot of people in the North against slavery. The people in the North wanted slavery to end which caused them to fight the South. The most important topic of Uncle Tom’s Cabin is that slavery was worse in the South than in the North. Slavery was worse in the South than in the North because of the hard labor, the freedom policy, and the treatment of the slaves.

    Read More

  • Slavery In The Souls Of Black Folk By Harriet Jacobs

    841 Words  | 2 Pages

    Analyzing the narrative of Harriet Jacobs through the lens of The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du bois provides an insight into two periods of 19th century American history--the peak of slavery in the South and Reconstruction--and how the former influenced the attitudes present in the latter. The Reconstruction period features Negro men and women desperately trying to distance themselves from a past of brutal hardships that tainted their souls and livelihoods. W.E.B. Du bois addresses the black man 's hesitating, powerless, and self-deprecating nature and the narrative of Harriet Jacobs demonstrates that the institution of slavery was instrumental in fostering this attitude.

    Read More

  • Uncle S Cabin And Olaudah Equiano's Narrative Essay

    1588 Words  | 4 Pages

    As explained by author Carl E. Krog, “Some Northerners, if they did not disapprove of slavery, were uncomfortable with it, particularly with the slave trade and its consequent break-up of families in an age which idealized the family” (Krog, p. 253). Krog goes on to cite various examples of families being separated in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the first of which being the story of Eliza and Harry. Spurred by the fear of losing her son, Harry, Eliza flees captivity, taking refuge in the free state of Ohio. Once in Ohio, Eliza meets Senator and Mrs. Bird whom have lost a child and can understand Eliza’s pain. (Stowe 876-880). In a later scene, a slave being transported away from her family cries out in agony as white women, sitting with their own children, look on in disgust at her uncouth display of sadness. Another passenger on the ship calls out their hypocrisy, noting that if their children had been shipped away they too would be distraught. Stowe gives her characters something that swiftly taken away from real slaves, humanity. As noted in Ramesh Mallipeddi’s essay, slaves lost their identity at capture and were not trapped in a false, inhuman persona crafted by slave masters. Stowe pushes her characters out of the trope of uneducated animal allowing her readers to see slaves as they were,

    Read More

  • Slavery and the Life of Harriet Jacobs

    1063 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is well known that slavery was a horrible event in the history of the United States. However, what isn't as well known is the actual severity of slavery. The experiences of slave women presented by Angela Davis and the theories of black women presented by Patricia Hill Collins are evident in the life of Harriet Jacobs and show the severity of slavery for black women.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Slavery By Harriet Jacobs

    1331 Words  | 3 Pages

    “I asked why the curse of slavery was permitted to exist, and why I had been so persecuted and wronged from youth upward.” Harriet Jacobs was born into slavery and knew from the start that it was wrong. You can only imagine what exactly men and women’s experiences were while going through life as a slave. “If you have never been a slave, you cannot imagine the acute sensation of suffering at my heart.” Jacobs details the abuses of slavery, and the struggles slaves went through. She often referred to slavery as the demon, a curse, or as venomous similar to that of a snake. Many slaves wished death upon themselves and even their children instead of continuing on with their life as being a slave. Slaves went through extremely harsh conditions and were abused not only physically but also mentally. Even through all the tragedies, slaves stayed strong and stuck together and did everything they could to assert their power and gain freedom or to help someone else gain it. “There are no bonds so strong as those which are formed by suffering together.”

    Read More

  • Uncle Tom's Cabin By Harriet Beecher Stowe

    769 Words  | 2 Pages

    Uncle Tom’s cabin was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852. It is an anti-slavery book that shows the reader the many sufferings endured by slaves in the period before the civil war. To the people of the modern day generation, these acts of slavery are unbelievable but the reader has to realize the fact that in those years, people suffered, to the point where they were just treated as property, where owners can do whatever they like and be disposed of or traded as if they were just material possessions and not even human. The book talks about the relationship between slaves and their masters as well as the role of women. As slavery was practiced during such times, Stowe tries to expose the difficult life people had in the past and how their faith in God helped them to endure all there hardships.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs

    576 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1861, Harriet Jacobs published her book “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.” The story is based in Southern United States of America during the time before Jacob escaped from slavery in 1835 (Reilly 649). Jacobs uses the name Linda Brent as a pseudonym (Reilly 649) and describes her experience as a female slave through a first person narration. The purpose of the selections featured in Kevin Reilly's, “Worlds of History,” is to show the victimization and emotional suffering female slaves feel against their white masters vs. the physical pain a male slave endures.

    Read More

  • Uncle Tom's Cabin

    832 Words  | 2 Pages

    Stowe and her siblings were involved in various reform movements and even “...reformed Puritanism itself by challenging some of its harshest creeds” (Reynolds, 2011, p.6). Stowe was uninterested in the political issue created by slavery, she wanted to bring light upon the emotional and religious problems caused by it. Stowe was able to receive testimony from former slaves because of the close interaction she had with them. One of her housekeepers, Eliza Buck, was a fugitive slave and was able to tell her story. Eliza Buck, along with Stowe’s mother’s sister, were able to influence Stowe in her creation of the characters for Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The immense cultural importance produced by Uncle Tom’s Cabin is created through its emotional appeal. Stowe’s book aid “...rectify

    Read More

  • The Strength Of Uncle Tom's Cabin By Harriet Beecher Stowe

    1137 Words  | 3 Pages

    Uncle Tom’s Cabin is an anti-slavery novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1850s that “changed forever how Americans viewed slavery, the system that treated people as property”. (Harriet Beecher Stowe Center) This book “demanded that the United States deliver on the promise of freedom and equality, galvanized the abolition movement and contributed to the outbreak of the Civil War”. (Harriet Beecher Stowe Center) “The strength of Uncle Tom's Cabin is its ability to illustrate slavery's effect on families, and to help readers empathize with enslaved characters.” (Harriet Beecher Stowe Center) As Foner mentioned: “By portraying slaves as sympathetic men and women, and as Christians at the mercy of slaveholders who split up families and set bloodhounds on innocent mothers and children, Stowe’s melodrama gave the abolitionist message a powerful human appeal.” (472) With this novel, Stowe wanted to convince Christians that God doesn’t’ approve slavery, that it is evil which must be destroyed.

    Read More

  • The Strength of Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

    750 Words  | 2 Pages

    Another example of the stereotyping of Stowe’s characters is Aunt Chloe, Uncle Tom’s wife, and her children.  Aunt Chloe is an excellent example because she has become the “Aunt Jemima” stereotype.  She had a “round, black, shining face” and wore a checkered headscarf, and she worked in the kitchen, took care of the kitchen, and basically ran the household.  Not to mention for many years black children were still stereotyped as mischievous like Mose, Pete, and, later in the novel, Topsy.

    Read More

  • The Impact of Slavery and Segregation in Today's Society

    1383 Words  | 3 Pages

    Slavery and Segregation are two components that have made a major impact on today’s society. Slavery is morally wrong, but many people still practiced it. Almost half of the nation believed it was wrong, but they were unwilling to do anything about it. The other half of the nation depended on slavery for producing goods, and this created a stalemate in the country. Freedom of slaves created segregation everywhere, and many black children could not attend school to be educated. Black children were not allowed to go to school with white children, leaving many black kids unable to read, write, and learn other subjects. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a story that took place in the southern half of the United States; it portrays the struggles that African-Americans have to go through. The story shows the evils of slavery, and how blacks get mistreated for absolutely no reason. The Bouquet was a story that took place in an inner city in the South. The story depicts how prejudice white people were toward African-Americans in segregated parts of the nation. At first, the white teacher believes that it is bad for her to teach black kids, but it the end she realizes how genuine and caring they are and changes her feelings toward them. Uncle Tom’s Cabin and The Bouquet introduce the harsh realities of slavery and segregation as well as how African-Americans show love for one another through good times and the suffering.

    Read More

  • Symbolism In Uncle Tom Stowe

    104 Words  | 1 Pages

    Stowe used many symbols in her story but Tom was her main symbol. He was used a main character to show others that slaves are not property. Uncle Tom represents what a true hard working man was really like. Slaves should be considered human just like others. Another symbol is the North being for freedom and South for slavery. The North is described as pro freedom. The South was represented as slavery. Many slaves as well as Tom lived their miserable lives there. The cabin is also a great symbol in this novel; the cabin is the center of slave life on the

    Read More

  • Uncle Tom's Cabin Religion

    959 Words  | 2 Pages

    Uncle Tom, being an avid follower of Christianity, owns this book and reads it everyday. Uncle Tom has protected this book ardently as he moves from the Shelby household to the St. Clare estate and finally to Legree’s plantation. The Bible is a source of strength and comfort for Uncle Tom who endures the harsh environment of slavery and the switching of masters. In the novel, Uncle Tom says: “[...] I will hold on to the Lord, and put his commands before all,—die or live; you may be sure on’t. Mas’r Legree, I ain’t a grain afeared to die. I’d as soon die as not. Ye may whip me, starve me, burn me, it’ll only send me sooner where I want to go” (433). Stowe shows us how much he values Christianity and how he is even willing to sacrifice his life. He also reads the Bible to many of the characters in the novel which gives hope to many who struggle with their faith like Cassy. His willingness to spread his faith to Cassy despite the circumstances on the plantation is truly remarkable, but this loyalty to Cassy also leads to his suffering. The Bible allows him to withstand the brutal treatment from Legree and this shows the strength of his Christian faith. However, when Uncle Tom is on the brink of death, he decides to forgive Legree for his wrongdoings and that he has “only opened the gate of the kingdom for [him]” (476). This shows that despite suffering, Uncle Tom still grasped onto his Christian faith. Stowe wanted to use the Bible to symbolize Uncle Tom’s suffering, strength, and love for God.

    Read More

  • Uncle Tom's Cabin: Christianity Supported Slavery

    871 Words  | 2 Pages

    Overall Uncle Tom’s Cabin is filled with religious overtones of martyrdom, imposed religion, and genuine piety of the slaves in bondage. Harriet Beecher Stowe shows the divide between how the slaveholders see religion as a whip to keep slaves in line and how slaves see the same religion as a balm for the wounds inflicted on them by the whites.

    Read More

  • Summary Of Uncle Tom's Cabin By Stowe

    550 Words  | 2 Pages

    In < Uncle Tom’s Cabin >, Stowe present the incompatibility of slavery with the Christian ethic of love and tolerance by a lot of sad and respect stories, such as George and his wife. Just like the George said, if God really love his kids, why he makes the different standing for the white and the black? Both of us are born with equal, but why George is a slavery and the master is a nobel. His wife, Eliza is a christian. However the slavery owner sells her to another people just like a good and God does not do anything to save her. Maybe the same as what George said, the law is made for the evils and God can not do anything for his kids. The appearance of the slavery is the most taunt to those sham Christians. They are opposite. The blood and

    Read More

More about Slavery In Harriett Beecher Stowe's Uncle Toms Cabin

Open Document