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The influence of uncle tom's cabin to the society
The influence of uncle tom's cabin to the society
Character of uncle toms cabin
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The Character of Mr. Shelby can be seen as a kind slave owner during this time period. His actions can be correlated to those slave owners during the time who did own and utilize slaves, only really used them to help run his land and provide for his family. Mr. Shelby, although supports the institution of slavery, believes that the slaves are born equal to whites. Since he puts a lot of faith in his slaves, as well as treats them with respect, other slave owners view him as week and seems to come off as to proud. Mr. Shelby’s compassion for the slaves ironically is seen while in the midst of a discussion with a slave trader, conversing about selling some of his slaves to pay his debts. Even though Mr. Shelby is seen as a kind master, as Stowe …show more content…
Although Tom is a slave, it seems that he is very different from his other enslaved peers. Uncle Tom is known for his kindness, honesty, and his strong religious beliefs. Unlike other slaves, Uncle Tom shows true resilience when it comes to the institution of slavery. For example, even when Uncle Tom was on the verge of death, he pleads with his devilish master Simon Legree, to not go through with killing him. Uncle Tom states “Mas’r, if you was sick, or in trouble, or dying, and I could save ye, I’d give ye my heart’s blood; and, if taking every drop of blood in this poor old body would save your precious soul, I’d give em freely, as the Lord gave His for me. O Mas’r! Don’t bring this great sin on your soul! It will hurt you more than ‘twill me! Do the worst you can, my troubles “ll be over soon; but, if ye don’t repent, yours won’t never end” (410). This quote is the best example of Uncle Tom’s character traits. Although he is most certainly going to die, he still wants the best for even the person that will eventually kill him. With all of the events Uncle Tom went through, he remained true to his beliefs. Although he was upset when he had to leave the comfort of the Shelby’s, Uncle Tom did what he could to make the best out of the situation. Stowe’s portrayal of Uncle Tom makes the reader believe that Uncle Tom is not only a …show more content…
But what makes George Harris such an important character is the way he went about a plan of action. Unlike many other slaves during this time period, Harris was able to overcome misery and create a better life for not only himself, but his wife and child as well. Not only did he impact the lives of his family members, but also the life of Tom Loker who was able to experience a change of heart from his interaction with Harris.
Shortly after Stowe introduces George Harris, the character is almost immediately faced with a life changing decision. Harris’s master had tormented poor George because of his own insecurities. Harris’ master was upset because Harris “had invented a machine for the cleaning of the hemp, which, considering the education and circumstances of the inventor, displayed quite as much mechanical genius as Whitney 's cotton-gin” (p.11). At this point in the story Stowe makes it very clear that Harris is one of a kind and genuinely an intelligent and hard-worker. The problem at hand, was that George’s master hated the idea of a slave being intelligent and believed that if a slave were to become to intelligent they might try and overthrow their
Slavery is perhaps the most polarizing subject of American history. Because of this, actual conditions of slavery are biased and marred by personal opinion. The abolitionists made use of the plights of slave in order to push their propaganda whereas the pro-slavery apologists maintained ignorance regarding the treatment of slaves. Because of these varied perspectives, the sources regarding the true nature of slavery are littered with bias. This bias leaves the modern historian trying to decipher the truth behind manipulated propaganda tales. This was the norm until 1956. It was this year in which Kenneth M. Stampp released his book entitled, The Peculiar Institution: Slavery in the Ante-Bellum South. Stampp successfully managed to create a book regarding slavery in the South without inserting his own personal bias. Because of this, Stampp was able to conclude that slavery was used primarily to exploit labor and to produce substantial revenue gains.
I’m quite amazed that the rules were instead implied for the development of smooth working environment in the plantation. I admire Bennet’s management of employing 200 slaves to work in his cotton plantation in well fashioned manner. He is in peace with all his slaves and from the document it is obvious that all his workers are happy with their master as he is paying good, taking care of all their needs, and allows them to go visit somewhere after the completion of certain amount of work he expects from them. Moreover, he has treated them equally and shown great interest in them to make them feel at home. He sure knew how to get best out from his worker. I was quite fascinated to learn about Bennet asking their worker to come clean with their head well combed and in proper uniform, which he believed would provide pride to everyone and master overall. He has shown the true leadership skills and leading example to other slave owners. During the period of 1840s, as described in textbook, cotton became the predominant American exports. They were exported to Great Britain that boasted the economy of the southern states and planters as well. I believe that cotton produced from Barrow’s plantation aided the major percentage of cotton experts. In conclusion Bennet has strictly exercised the rules in the plantation for the creating the healthy work
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,
Slavery is a gripping issue that can be viewed through an individual's experiences or through the general experiences of all those affected. The book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain does just that. Readers see a micro perspective through Jim's experiences and a macro perspective through the constant illustrations of slavery throughout the book. Twain examines the issue of Southern slavery in his novel from a macro and micro perspective in that he compares and contrasts Jim's personal experiences such as being viewed as property, the desire for freedom, and his compassionate feelings to those of other slaves in general.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin was about the story of Eliza Harris, the young slave mother that escapes from the Shelby plantation Kentucky to avoid being sold away from her child. Also retracing Tom’s stoic journey to the grand mansion of Augustine St. Clare in New Orleans, to Simon Legree’s horrible plantation. There we see his inner strength were he dies by being whipped by Legree. (Stowe,
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.
For hundreds of years, slavery has been practiced around the world. At this time, abolitionist Americans have no right to deny this tradition. Our founding fathers, in fact, had slaves of their own. One must concur that slavery is not morally wrong but rather needed for the growth of America. The abolitionists of the North have weak arguments that can be overruled by all the advantages of slavery. These advantages include white supremacy and the advantages of living as a slave, the kingdom of cotton, and the reality of the United States' Constitution and its Amendments. The South will not lose slavery over a bunch of abolitionist fools view's of the wrongs of slavery, but will instead remain in charge of their black slaves and keep them working the fields of cotton.
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.
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.
Even the slave owners and traders are stereotypes now. Mr. Shelby and his wife have become the “gentlemen and lady” slave holders, who see themselves as good Christian people and attempt to take good care of their slaves, but still don’t see black people as equal to whites. Simon Legree has become the stereotypical cruel master, who let his estate go to hell, but continued to work his slaves too hard and beat them senseless (or, in Tom’s and other’s cases, to death) when they did not behave as he thought they should.
The most important character in Uncle Tom’s Cabin is Uncle Tom himself. Uncle Tom is a middle aged black man who is very honest and intelligent. Uncle Tom is entrusted with many important dealings of the house, even large sums of money, by his master Mr. Shelby. Uncle Tom has many opportunities to escape, but he always returns, feeling that he cannot violate his master’s trust by running away with his money. Uncle Tom’s story resembles the biblical story of Joseph and his enslavement in Egypt. Joseph’s master Potiphar entrusts Joseph with all his belongings just as Mr. Shelby does with Uncle Tom.
Mr. Shelby is in debt to Haley, so he must sell Uncle Tom and Harry, tearing them apart from their families. Stowe shows a young slave woman, Eliza and her affection for her son Harry, when she decides to take her son and run away. This disputes the common belief of the time that slaves mothers has less affection for their youth than white women. Uncle Tom is sold again to the carefree Augustine St. Clare whos philosophy is “Why save time or money, when there's plenty of both?” Uncle Tom receives good treatment at the St. Clare’s, which proves that the novel is not one-sided, showing that their where kind slave owners.
Statements like this were not simply crafted to enhance character development; they were created in an attempt to make whites see slaves as mothers, fathers, Christians, and most of all...people. The character of Tom is described as "a man of humanity" certainly not a description commonly linked to black people at that time.
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.
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.