Uncle Tom's Cabin Thesis

661 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Symbolism of the story uncle tom's cabin

Slavery in the South was among one of the most massive destructions of human beings. Slavery limited a colored person’s freedom and rights to the point of creating death. However, there were numerous abolitionists who aimed to end slavery by various forms. One of the most popular methods was through literacy. Writers took advantage of the eras rise in publications and published books, newspapers, pamphlets, and journals in order to express their feelings and desires. In the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin, written by Harriet B. Stowe, the author communicated to the reader the wicked methods Africans underwent while they were prisoners of slavery by displaying the frightful effects on the separation of families, the horrific mistreatment they experienced, and the contempt towards a slave’s dignity. Stowe demonstrated multiple outcomes slavery offered by disintegrating slave families by trading them …show more content…

Eliza, the first target aimed to be parted in the story, feared that her son, Harry, would be taken away from her arms, so she had no other choice but to run away (pg. 35). After reading the book, the reader can assume Eliza’s biggest fear was to lose another child after the death of two previous ones. (pg. 13). While trying to escape, Eliza was lucky enough to cling on to her child, but as she was escaping and being persecuted, she encountered numerous conflicts that threatened her life and that of her child by almost dying in a river, while trying to escape from Haley, a slave trader (pg. 52). Eliza also experienced another threat against her life along with her family and a group of friends from Tom Loker, a slave hunter, hired by Haley in order to capture Harry (pg. 168). The attempts on trying to divide the Harris family demonstrate the dark journey slaves undergo and the

Show More
Related

  • William Lloyd Garrison's Liberator & Frederick Douglass' North Star

    2617 Words  | 6 Pages

    The abolitionist movement reached its peak between 1830 and 1860. During this period, abolitionists, those who "insisted slavery undermined the freedom, righteousness, order, and prosperity of all society" (McInerney, 8) sought to identify, denounce and abolish this cruel institution using their rights of free speech and free press. With free press and free speech "abolitionists depicted slavery as raw, aggressive power carrying in it's wake the seeds of political, social, economic, and moral dislocation" (McInerney, 18). In other words, the evils of slavery were expressed by abolitionists in an attempt to convince American society that slavery was not only morally wrong, but it also went against the goal of the republic, which was liberty and equality for all. Two prominent abolitionists during this period who utilized the right of free press were William Lloyd Garrison with the Liberator and Frederick Douglass with the North Star. When examining Garrison and Douglass it is apparent that they had different approaches to writing against slavery because of their separate background. However, these differences can also be attributed to the fact that their writing audiences, inspirations and motivations for publishing their respective papers were distinct. Garrison and Douglass also had different but very influential effects on the Abolitionist Movement. These do not make Garrison and Douglass opponents; instead they demonstrate how white and black abolitionists had different approaches, methods, and styles of conveying their common message of abolishing slavery.

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass' Words Caught the Attention of Many - Including Slave Owners

    867 Words  | 2 Pages

    It’s important to literature because if the reader didn’t have the perspective of an actual slave, nobody would know what slavery actually did. Literature is written in many ways and styles. During his time, Frederick Douglass’s works and speeches attracted many people’s attention. With the amount of works and speeches Douglass has given, it has influenced many other writers to express themselves more freely. Though Douglass lived a rigorous childhood, he still made it the best that he could, with the guidance and teaching of one of his slave owner’s wife he was able to read and write, thus allowing him to share his life stories and experiences.

    Read More

  • Uncle S Cabin And Olaudah Equiano's Narrative Essay

    1588 Words  | 4 Pages

    Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Olaudah Equiano’s Narrative of his Life both endeavor to stir antislavery sentiment in predominantly white, proslavery readers. Each author uses a variety of literary tactics to persuade audiences that slavery is inhumane. Equiano uses vivid imagery and inserts personal experience to appeal to audiences, believing that a first-hand account of the varying traumas slaves encounter would affect change. Stowe relies on emotional connection between the readers and characters in her novel. By forcing her audience to have empathy for characters, thus forcing readers to confront the harsh realities of slavery, Stowe has the more effective approach to encouraging abolitionist sentiment in white readers.

    Read More

  • Uncle Tom's Cabin: A Summer Awakening to Slavery

    1042 Words  | 3 Pages

    I never thought that I would read a book over the summer, but over the course of these past two months, that changed. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” forever changed how I view slavery. I loved reading it. Throughout the whole novel, Stowe uses her experience and knowledge to portray the terrible hardships and struggles that slaves endured everyday. Not only does this book express the thoughts of the slaves and their faith in God, but also of the people around them. “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” wanted so badly for America to give freedom and equality for all people, and that is what I enjoyed most while reading.

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis Of Frederick Douglass The Heroic Slave

    1273 Words  | 3 Pages

    The illumination of the brutal treatment of the slaves, both physically and mentally, are also apparent in the works of Stowe and Jacobs. Stowe, in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, uses the stories of Eliza, Harry, Uncle Tom and Cassy to show how slavery, with both cruel and kind masters, affects different members of the slave community. In Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Jacobs focuses her work on the how the institution is “terrible for men; but is far more terrible for women” (B:933), adding sexual abuse to the atrocities of slavery. Douglass’ Madison gives the reader a masculine perspective on the

    Read More

  • Douglass -- The Narrative

    1968 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Sincerely and earnestly hoping that this little book may do something toward throwing light on the American slave system, and hastening the glad day of deliverance to the millions of my brethren in bonds … relying upon the power of truth, love, and justice, for success in my … efforts and solemnly pledging myself anew to the sacred cause, I subscribe myself” (Douglass 76). With these words, Frederick Douglass (c. 1817-1895), an emancipated slave with no formal education, ends one of the greatest pieces of propaganda of the 19th century America: that slavery is good for the slave. He writes his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave, as an abolitionist tool to shape his northern audience’s view of southern slaveholders. Through personal anecdotes, Douglass draws an accurate picture of slave life. Simultaneously, he chooses these events for how they will affect the northern audience’s opinion of southern slaveholders (Quarles ii). By using the written word, Douglass targets educated northern whites because they were the only group capable of changing the status quo. Illiterate northern whites and free northern blacks could not vote, while white Southerners would not vote because they did not want change. For that reason, Douglass used his life story as an instrument to promote abolition among literate northern whites (vi).

    Read More

  • Slave Narratives as Abolitionist Arguments

    1809 Words  | 4 Pages

    The argument of slavery portrayed as a “slow poison” can be seen throughout the three narratives that are the basis for this paper. The “slow poison” being that slavery is a slow poison that effects not only blacks and whites but everyone around and subjected to slavery. The most obvious people that are effected by slavery are the slaves but there are many examples of whites and their families being effected by slavery also. The Epps family from Twelve Years a Slave is a good example of how slavery can tear apart a family. Mr. and Mrs. Epps were happily married until their marriage became challenged by Mr. Epp’s liking to a slave girl named Patsey. Mrs. Epps became jealous over their relationship and over time their marriage became broken and Mr. Epps became an alcoholic to deal with his marriage and his near constant whipping of his slaves. Mrs. Epp’s jealousy and hatred for Patsey c...

    Read More

  • Uncle Tom's Cabin

    832 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mightier than the Sword: Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the Battle for America is written by David S. Reynolds. Reynolds is a Distinguished Professor of English and American Studies at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. In this book, the author analyzes and discusses the effect of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” in society. American history has been influenced through different works. However, as Reynolds claims, Uncle Tom’s Cabin helped shape the world’s public opinion about slavery and religion in more than one way. Therefore, no book could have more powerfully molded American history than Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

    Read More

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

    750 Words  | 2 Pages

    Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, has had a tremendous impact on American culture, both then and now.  It is still considered a controversial novel, and many secondary schools have banned it from their libraries.  What makes it such a controversial novel?  One reason would have been that the novel is full of melodrama, and many people considered it a caricature of the truth.  Others said that she did not show the horror of slavery enough, that she showed the softer side of it throughout most of her novel.  Regardless of the varying opinions of its readers, it is obvious that its impact was large.

    Read More

  • Uncle Tom's Cabin Analysis

    1006 Words  | 3 Pages

    Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe is a classic novel that some people claimed evoked the American Civil War. Stowe motivated people to take sides over the issue of slavery by discussing the issue and showing the cruel aspects of it. The main focus of the novel was to show whites that African American’s have souls and feelings like any other human; it was common for whites at the time to view blacks as cattle. Families were separated, and the white people’s reasoning was that blacks did not feel the loss the same way a white person would. Stowe’s basic argument is that it is wrong to mistreat blacks because they suffer just as much as whites.

    Read More

  • Power of Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

    909 Words  | 2 Pages

    The novel centers around a pious slave, Uncle Tom, and how he is sold over and over again. It shows the different attitudes that Tom’s masters share about slavery, and how their slaves should be treat. It also teaches Christian values as well as family values. At the time of its publication, Uncle Tom’s Cabin was an immediate success and one of biggest sellers of all time. Despite the fact that Stowe induces her own personal opinions, with the very little experience she has had with slaves, she delivers a magnificent novel which is still enjoyed by many modern readers today. The time of her novel’s publication was very important. It was published at the peak of the abolitionist movement, in the 1850’s. It proved to be very effective propaganda for the abolitionist cause, which Stowe openly supported.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Religion In Uncle Tom's Cabin

    1336 Words  | 3 Pages

    William Arthur Ward once said, "Real religion is a way of life, not a white cloak to be wrapped around us on the Sabbath and then cast aside into the six-day closet of unconcern." Religion is the one thing that people can usually tolerate but never agree upon. Each faith seems to have an ordained assumption that they have the correct thoughts on how to life one's life or how to think about things or the way to act in certain situations. Still, each religion has its own "sub-religions." If someone refers to Christianity, there are several different religions that are blanketed under that umbrella: Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran, Pentecostal, and Presbyterian are just a handful. The inconsistencies that are associated with everyone's belief about religion run into deeper ruts of confusion. This confusion leads people to have distorted views as to what they believe and what their religion is all about. This is no different from the feelings about slavery by Christians in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. Throughout the novel, Christianity presents itself in a few different lights; as a twisted and deformed glimmer of what religion is supposed to be with undertones of bigotry and prejudice, an innocent yet naive child that brings joy to everyone he or she meets, and as Uncle Tom himself, the standard for what a Christian is supposed to be. These different portrayals of Christian living come from Stowe's own beliefs about Christians and brings them into the light.

    Read More

  • Uncle Tom's Cabin Thesis

    608 Words  | 2 Pages

    Uncle Tom’s Cabin was much more than an informational book covering the hardships of slavery; it was a relatable story. There were more than enough statistics that could have been used to discuss the issue. However, Harriet Beecher Stowe went beyond simply reciting the facts that she knew. By using an emotional appeal and humanizing slaves, Stowe captured the hearts and attention of thousands with Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

    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

  • Uncle Tom Cabin Essay Examples

    466 Words  | 1 Pages

    In Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’ cabin, both of circumstance and chance play a vital role in promoting the development of the story and illustrating the ideas of slavery. Firstly, using different circumstance to shapes different characters’ distinct ideas is the perfect method to underline how deep slavery ideas in people’s mind. The most obvious clash between slavery ideas can be shows between Eva and her mother Marie. Eva is the girl who loves everyone among her.

    Read More

More about Uncle Tom's Cabin Thesis

Open Document