Debunking Myths on the Treatment of African Americans in Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Uncle Tom’s Cabin is an 19th century novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe that is basically a canon of masterpieces that depict the cruelties of slavery throughout this time period. Stowe uses her novel to spread her opinions of slavery throughout the United States at this time while using typology to tie the whole problem of slavery into Christianity. Uncle Tom’s Cabin shows that a person’s attitude toward religion intertwines with attitude towards slavery. The story follows the characters of Uncle Tom, Eliza, Eva, the St. Clare’s, and

Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe is a unique historical fiction novel which portrays life during the American Civil War. In this story, Harriet Beecher Stowe tells the tale of Uncle Tom, along with several other slaves, and their journey through the wretchedness of slavery. She combines ethics, redemption, religion, and prejudice and presents her readers with an immensely powerful book that gives off an awe-inspiring impact.

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.

Abraham Lincoln is quoted as saying, “So you’re the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war.” upon meeting Harriet Beecher Stowe for the first time. The book that the former president is referring to is Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a 1850s book about the moral wrongs of slavery. It has been said to be the most influential anti-slavery book that has ever been written. Harriet Beecher Stowe is an effective author. She uses numerous literary devices such as facile characters, character foils, and symbolism to highlight her abolitionist views and constructs a persuasive argument against slavery.

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.

Harriet Beecher Stowe not only tried to abolish slavery before the Civil War by writing Uncle Tom’s Cabin, but also helped during the Civil War by help convincing President Abraham Lincoln to sign the Emancipation Proclamation(Haugen 82).When the Civil War started from the attack on Fort Sumter, Abraham Lincoln wanted to defeat the South as quickly as he could. Stowe had criticized Lincoln for not freeing the slaves since Lincoln didn’t include as part of his plan in defeating the rebels. She had a meeting with Lincoln in the White House. Stowe wanted to convince Lincoln to sign the Emancipation Proclamation, which released slaves in the South from the seceded states. Lincoln had signed the

When Harriet had moved to Brunswick Maine with her family, the United States Congress had just passed the Fugitive Slave Law. Shortly after, she had planned to write a protest of slavery since her experiences in Cincinnati. Stowe then began to work on Uncle Toms Cabin, which first appeared in serial form in a Washington, D.C. antislavery newspaper called the National Era. The book was first published March of 1852, in a two-volume set. It became an immediate success and sold 300,000 copies in its first year. Years later, Harriet began touring all over the world, and her novels Uncle Tom’s Cabin along with Dred: A Tale of Great Dismal Swamp were both very known in England. Another crucial experience was when she met Abraham Lincoln in 1862. He thought of Harriet’s controversial novel as a catalyst for the opposition of the Civil War. Lincoln had told her that she was “the little lady who started our big war” (Encyclopedia of World Biography 485).

Harriet Beecher Stowe became one of the most famous writers, reformers, and abolitionist women of the 1800's in large part due to her most effective selling fictional book, Uncle Tom's Cabin. The image of brutal whippings, rape, and the splitting of families broke down the hearts of people in the eighteenth century. Her writing influenced thousands to become a great phenomenon, take a stand, and change the world. Harriet Beecher Stowe lived much of her life near slaves and did not believe in the practice of slavery; this inspired her to become a voice for anti-slavery both in her writings and personal values and beliefs.

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s most influential novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, struck the world. It was published in book form in March 1852. In the first year of U.S. Publications, it sold a total of about 300,000 copies. The real reason for the publication of this book was to make the northern people realize the terrible things slaves go through with cruel masters. Stowe wanted people to see how wrong slavery was and the unfairness to African Americans. (“Stowe’s Life and Uncle Tom’s Cabin”) Abraham Lincoln greeted Stowe at the start of the American Civil War as the “little lady who started a

     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

Most people today regard her to be an abolitionist because of the success of her novel in freeing the slaves. By today’s ideals, an abolitionist is someone who wanted to free all blacks from slavery and incorporate them into society. When looking at abolitionists from the Civil War era, it is important to realize that not all followed this definition but are still claimed to be abolitionists, which creates a serious problem of misrepresenting their ideals. While Harriet Beecher Stowe is credited as being an abolitionist today because of the impact of her novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin she was in fact not because of her lifestyle, background, and belief in the necessity of slavery; her belief that blacks were inferior to the white race; and that former slaves could not be incorporated into society and should be returned to Africa.

Harriet Beecher Stowe is most famously regarded as being the author of anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. However, before publishing this famous novel, she started off writing short stories and newspaper articles that were not nearly of the same caliber as Uncle Tom’s Cabin. When she was still just known as Harriet Beecher, she was inspired to become a writer by the vibrant literary culture in her hometown of Litchfield, Connecticut ("Stowe's Life and Uncle Tom's Cabin" par. 3). At the age of 21, Harriet Beecher and her large family relocated to Cincinnati, Ohio, due to her father’s new role as president of Lane Theological Seminary, a training school for Presbyterian ministers. Four years after their move to Cincinnati, the pro-slavery

Harriet Beecher Stowe released her novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1852 and it was immediately controversial. When the book reached southern readers, they were irate. Stowe’s novel was written to confront the basis of the southern way of life and culture. It

As previously mentioned, Stowe composed Uncle Tom’s Cabin to express the various views of slavery, and how it impacted the lives of those affected by this lifestyle. Growing up in this century, Stowe found the institution of slavery to be corrupt, with “the country requiring her complicity in a system she thought was unjust and immoral” (Uncle Tom’s Cabin). As Stowe did not believe in the Fugitive Slave Law—which required everyone to aid in the capture of fugitive slaves—she chose to hide runaway slaves, and her family promoted her drive to aid those in need. Stowe accomplished this feat through housing, feeding, and smuggling slaves to legal freedom in Canada, because it was the Christian thing to do.

Harriet Beecher Stowe published Uncle Tom’s Cabin with intent to help spread the harsh realities and injustices of the institution of slavery in America. One of Stowe’s chief arguments in her novel is that slavery treats blacks unjustly. She considers slavery an evil and immoral practice that it should be immediately abolished and is calling for blacks to participate in ending their own enslavement. However, she appears to be proposing that the blacks should not revolt but instead should continue to be compliant to their masters and focus their attention into being devout Christians. Stowe portrays this stance through Tom who knows that through a peaceful submission to his masters and an unbreakable faith, he will ultimately achieve