Uncle Tom’s Cabin
An Influential Abolitionist Novel
Introduction and Thesis
Uncle Tom’s Cabin is a standout amongst books that have had a profound influence on the attitudes toward slavery and the African American experience. The novel is credited with being a major influence on the beliefs that fueled the Civil War. The universal theme embodies antislavery and the conflict between the evil of slavery and Christian love. Uncle Tom’s Cabin, however, was banned on a national level since it was considered abolitionist propaganda due to its antislavery themes and “exaggerated” slave accounts of abuse. Now considered controversial, many schools are hesitant to include this historically important novel in their libraries.
About the Author
Harriet Beecher Stowe was an American abolitionist and Congregationalist minister born in 1811 in Litchfield, Connecticut. She was one of thirteen kids, raised in a religious household with a passion for social justice. Seven of her brothers became ministers and many of her sisters became powerful female role models for Stowe. Marrying a seminary teacher, Calvin Ellis Stowe, who shared her love of literature and a similar perspective on abolition; Harriet decided to voice her views through her literary work. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was released in 1851 and the next year considered a best seller.
In Stowe’s later years, she continued to fight for the causes she believed in and published many stories and novels including Minister’s Wooing and Old Town Folks and Dred. Though never as popular as Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Stowe “Remained well known and respected in the North” and “was often asked to weigh in on political issues of the day, such as polygamy,” according to the article “Harriet Beecher Stowe.”
Although she spent a great deal of time near Jacksonville, Florida, she lived out her remaining years in the state in which she was born. Harriet Stowe died in July of 1896 due to years-long “mental trouble.” Leaving her mark, landmarks have been erected throughout the eastern United States in her memory.
About the Book
Published as a response to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, Uncle Tom’s Cabin evoked strong emotions in Stowe’s effort to abolish slavery. The novel is credited with having a deep impact on the American perspective of the institution of slavery and the lives of both the slaves and their owners.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin centers around the life of the Christian slave Tom, who saves little Eva, the sickly white child of a plantation owner. The slave owner then buys Tom out of gratitude and a fast friendship develops between Tom and Eva. Promising the freedom of all his slaves as she was on her deathbed, the father is unable to fulfill his promise as he was murdered. Tom’s new owner demands information about the location of runaway slaves, and when he refuses to reveal their whereabouts, he is whipped to death.
Written in a sentimental and melodramatic style, Harriet Stowe demands readers empathic response to the lives of slaves in the deep south. She writes from personal emotions to create characters that resonate with her audience, particularly parents who have lost a child. The emotional response of Stowe’s novel made her know “That if she could evoke that depth of response from a white audience, she did not need to make arguments about slavery. She had already succeeded in making them see the subjectivity of a black person” (Headrick).
The Legacy
Uncle Tom’s Cabin created a firestorm of response that never could have been predicted. Northerners felt dismayed as they realized the similarities between themselves and slaves, yet slaves were subjected to horrifying conditions; this fueled the anti-slavery movement. The southerners were furious and “Felt attacked and misrepresented– despite Stowe’s including benevolent slave owners in the book” (History.com Editors).
The novel holds many achievements, including the second best selling book of the 19th century besides the Bible. In addition, “By the end of its first year in print, the book had sold over 300,000 copies in the United States alone” (Brock). The article “Harriet Beecher Stowe,” and many other sources informally attribute Abraham Lincoln to saying that Stowe is that “Little woman that started this great war,” in reference to the American Civil War. Harriet earned praise and recognition in both gifts and support throughout the world for this remarkable novel.
Even today, Uncle Tom’s Cabin is a model for addressing social injustice. The novel changed conversations about race and was a first at conveying inequality through literature. This quote from Uncle Tom’s Cabin summarizes an ideal of human nature that stands the test of time: “For, so inconsistent is human nature, especially in the ideal, that not to undertake a thing at all seems better than to undertake and come short.”
Works Cited
Beecher, Harriet. Uncle Toms Cabin. Ale Mar, 2020.
Brock, Jared. “The Story of Josiah Henson, the Real Inspiration for ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 16 May 2018, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/story-josiah-henson-real-inspiration-uncle-toms-cabin-180969094/. Accessed 29 October 2020.
“Harriet Beecher Stowe.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 24 Aug. 2020, www.biography.com/activist/harriet-beecher-stowe. Accessed 29 October 2020.
Headrick, Joan D. Stowe’s Life and Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Trinity College, June 2007, utc.iath.virginia.edu/interpret/exhibits/hedrick/hedrick.html. Accessed 29 October 2020.
History.com Editors. “Harriet Beecher Stowe.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 12 Nov. 2009, www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/harriet-beecher-stowe. Accessed 29 October 2020.
