19th Century Transcendentalism

The anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe was written at a time when slavery was a largely common practice among Americans. It not only helped lay the foundation for the Civil War but also contained many themes that publicized the evil of slavery to all people. The book contains themes such as the moral power of women, human right, and many more. The most important theme Stowe attempts to portray to readers is the incompatibility of slavery and Christianity. She makes it very clear that she does not believe slavery and Christianity can coexist and that slavery is against all Christian morals. She believes no Christian should allow the existence or practice of slavery.

In 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe published the startlingly truthful and heart-wrenching novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. She was angered by the new and stricter Fugitive Slave Law and created this novel, emphasizing the cruel separation of families in order to inflame the North. She owed the creation of it to God and said “her anti-slavery sentiments lay in the evangelical religious crusades of the Second Great Awakening.” Stowe’s novel sold millions of copies, transformed into plays and opened the eyes of American people, to the injustice of slavery. Arguably, this novel even helped the North win the Civil War: It was read by a profuse amount of youth in the 1850’s who would inspired to fight because what Uncle Tom’s Cabin portrayed. Additionally, it was an impetus for people up North to not enforce the Fugitive Slave Law. Five years later to when this novel was published Hinton Helper’s novel, The Impending Crisis of the South made its debut. Helper was a non-aristocratic white in the South and his novel utilized statistics in order to help prove that the non-slaveholding whites were the real victims of the Peculiar Institution. This novel was banned from the South, however countless copies were sold in the North. This novel, as did its former, reduced the South’s ability to live under the same roof as their anti-slavery brothers up North.

Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote a book called Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which brought up the horrible aspects of slavery into many Americans minds. She brought up many horrifying points about slavery and it is said to have inspired Northern abolitionists to protest against the Fugitive Slave act.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe, would present the evil and cruelty of slavery in the South, while The Impending Crisis of the South, by Hinton Helper, would present the economic instability of slavery in the South. All of these works were a major driving force for northerners to oppose slavery, and they even discouraged the British to help the South. Some abolitionists, like John Brown, even resorted to violence to oppose slavery. Brown led a raid in

The Fugitive Slave Act caused the North and the South to grow apart even farther. Tensions grew even higher in 1852, when abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe published her book “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, which portrayed that “slavery was not just a political contest, but also a great moral struggle” (Littell 312). In response to the book, Northern abolitionists increased their protests against the Fugitive Slave Act and encouraged people to partake in their anti-slavery movements The South denounced the book as a full on attack of the South, which separate the views of the North and the South even more. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a step toward the secession, which soon occurred after the conclusion of the

Slavery was the most popular form of labor during the growth of American society. For many, this was all they knew despite being an inhumane way to live. Slavery caused physical and emotional damage to African Americans of this time. As society progressed many begin to realize how wrong this actually was. Even though there are many causes of the growing opposition to slavery in the United States from 1776 to 1852, the main reasons were a changes in social morals, political ideas, and the mass production of anti-slavery newspapers,books, and posters.

     Published in the early 1850’s, Uncle Tom’s Cabin had a huge impact on our nation and contributed to the tension over slavery. It was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, a woman who was involved in religious and feminist causes. Stowe’s influence on the northern states was remarkable. Her fictional novel about slave life of her current time has been thought to be one of the main things that led up to the Civil War. The purpose of writing it, as is often said, was to expose the evils of slavery to the North where many were unaware of just what went on in the rest of the country. The book was remarkably successful and sold 300,000 copies by the end of its first year. It is even rumored that

The novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe and published in the United States in 1852. The novel depicted slavery as a moral evil and was the cause of much controversy at the time and long after. Uncle Tom's Cabin outraged the South and received praise in the North. The publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin was a major turning point for the United States which helped bring about the Civil War.

Transcendentalism was an early philosophical, intellectual, and literary movement that thrived in New England in the nineteenth century. Transcendentalism was a collection of new ideas about literature, religion, and philosophy. It began as a squabble in the Unitarian church when intellectuals began questioning and reacting against many of the church’s orthodoxy ways regarding all of the aforementioned subjects: religion, culture, literature, social reform, and philosophy. They in turn developed their own faith focusing on the divinity of humanity and the innate world. Many of the Transcendentalists ideas were expressed heavily by Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his essays such as “Nature”, “Self Reliance”, and also in his poems such as “The

There have been numerous religious rebellions throughout history, but none quite like that of Transcendentalism. This movement embodies the idea that spiritual growth can be achieved through personal journey instead of conflicting with organized religion. By the time of the movement’s onset, newly gained religious freedom in the United States allowed for new ideas and beliefs to prosper freely. At the heart of this movement was Transcendentalism philosophy famous ambassadors, Ralph Waldo Emerson and apprentice Henry David Thoreau. These men believed nature is what forces us not to depend on other ideas but to develop our own.

Transcendentalism has influence the way writers write and live their own lives. Henry David Thoreau was one writer you embraced transcendentalism in every aspect of his life. Emerson’s work influenced Thoreau significantly. In March, 1845, Thoreau began to build a cabin, on the north shore of Waldon Pond. He moved near the pond to establish a life of bare necessities. He wanted to be as close to nature as possible to establish spiritual enlightenment. (McElrath 7) He lived the transcendental idealism. He lived with nature and removed all material life away for himself. He live only with the supplies need to survive. Even by building his cabin he showed many trait of a true Transcendentalist. Thoreau was self-reliant by using his own skill and knowledge to build his cabin. His own instincts was used to place his cabin on Waldon Pond.

As many people say history was written by the victors, we need to remember there would be no victors without the struggle and turmoil of those that lost. This is what Harriet Beecher Stowe’s compelling novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin has taught us in regards to the war on slavery. In the midst of the 1800’s, Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote her best-selling novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, to address the various issues regarding race during this century. Throughout her novel, readers learn the lives of slaves, slave masters, and their families, which leads to the understanding of a unique lifestyle among the characters. As her novel is important in today’s society, it made an even greater impact during the nineteenth century as it portrays the ideology of the Civil War and the abolitionists.

For the most part, the North took a laissez faire approach to slavery that it would figure itself out eventually. However, there was a population of people who wanted to end slavery at all cost and they were called abolitionist. Harriet Beecher Stowe was an abolitionist and she published one of the best books in American history, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, in 1852. The book detailed the poor treatment of slaves and the depicted their everyday life. This depiction enraged many Northerners who were unaware of the horrible treatment slaves endured daily. Stowe based her depiction off runaway slaves who ran to the North and told their story as a slave. Runaway slaves were another inevitable aspect of the Civil War (Roark 481,484-485).

Uncle Tom’s Cabin, is a novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe which originally was published on March 20, 1852. Under the background that the country had been divided over the issue over slavery, the south states of the country are slaves states, and the north states of the country are slave free states. Different sides of the country have distinct views over slavery system in south. The north, specially abolitionist, views slavery system is villainous and immoral, it takes away the basic right of human which is freedom, and it againsts God which is Christian believes. The theme of the novel based on the abolitionist views. The purpose of the novel is that tell the world what is slave life like, especially for those northerners never been to the south.Their life will be strenuous or comfortable is depend on what kind of slave owner they meet. The book is appeal people to face and deal with the issue of slavery which lasted in the history for a long time.

The American Renaissance was a revolution for literature and writers in America itself that emphasized cultural authority. The American Renaissance took place throughout the nineteenth century, primarily in the early segment of this era. According to, The Norton Anthology of American Literature, “the idea of American Renaissance has been so influential in part of the literature of this time period, and was crucial to the development of American literary traditions” (4). This created a diverse movement apart of the American Renaissance reform called, Transcendentalism. The Transcendentalism period which outlined majority of the Renaissance, was led by writer, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Transcendentalism is largely defined by the ideals of, religion, self reliance, civil disobedience, individualism, idealism, nonconformity, and nature. Emerson outlined the reform and countless parts of these Transcendentalism ideals, for writers soon to follow this movement. The Norton Anthology of American Literature, presents Emerson’s language as, “…no American writer who placed greater importance on the reader’s active interpretive role in generating new meanings and new ways of seeing the world” (214). Ralph Waldo Emerson’s language was a formation composed of idealism and a philosophical literary movement. Founding father Ralph Emerson, contributed to Transcendentalism by the primary ideals of Nature, and Individualism. These ideals are all exhibited in Emerson’s essays, “Nature”,