Deconstruction of the Theory of White Supremacy in Uncle Tom's Cabin

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

At the very beginning of the book, Stowe almost immediately introduces this idea of slavery and it how it morally changes someone in a negative way. The very first scene of the book causes the reader to be touched emotionally, by expressing the struggle that a young slave mother, Eliza, went through. Her son, Harry, was about to be traded by the slave owner, Mr.Shelby (pg. 15), which meant that her family would have been split up and separated from each other forever. Even though this story takes place in Kentucky, where slavery was more mild than some regions more down south, in the terms of how harsh the slave owners treated their slaves, it was still slavery and it was definitely not a perfect kinship between the slave and the master that some thought it up to be. Furthermore, Mr.Shelby was put in a predicament to either sell some of his slaves to make money, or keep them and try to scavenge for money. In that situation, the choice seemed fairly obvious and Mr.Shelby decided to sell Harry and Uncle Tom, so that his family can continue to survive on the plantation(pg. 46). However, since he was the one who made the decision, it perceived him to be the bad guy, even though he had treated his slaves with such care in the past. He would have been ultimately splitting up their family, if they would have not run away (ch. 6). Through these first couple of chapters Stowe incorporates this situation to show how slave owners, even the less intense ones, were still blinded to the morally wrong and morally degrading actions that they were committing. By treating slaves as property, the effects of the slave owner’s actions could be clearly seen, but yet there was still no positive change that resulted in the slaves becoming less materialized.

“These words sank deep into my heart, stirred up sentiments within that lay slumbering, and called into existence an entirely new train of thought. It was a new and special revelation, explaining dark mysterious things, with which my youthful understanding had struggled, but struggled in vain. I now understood what had been to me a most perplexing difficulty – to wit, the white man’s power to enslave black men. It was a grand achievement, and I prized it highly. From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom” (20).

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.

One of the key arguments in “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” as well as in other narratives about slaves is inequality. Douglass attempts to show us how African American slaves were still human beings like their white counterparts, there have been numerous instances where it is shown that many whites did not want to accept slaves as true humans. Frederick

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 the book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author conveys the evils and immoralities regarding slavery by portraying multiple accounts of abuse from slaveowners toward their slaves, humanizing the slaves, and ultimately slaves reaching out to christianity when they are hopeless.

In his article, “The Blessings of Slavery,” George Fitzhugh brings about an argument against the abolitionist movement. In his writings, he speculates on the feelings of a black man under slavery, something that he will never feel or understand without personally going through it.He asserts that slavery is truly good for both white and black men. Along with the idea that black men are inherently lazier, he claims that racism is actually placed on the backs of the white man. These claims are false and rooted in a purposeful misunderstanding of the true nature of slavery.

Harriet Beecher Stowe is one of the most influential writers from the 19th century. “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” brings up many ideals about history and culture. Stowe supports ideals of American exceptionalism such as slavery, christianity, and equality through earlier periods in American history. American identity has been created and explored in literature ranging from the days of the conquistadores and the early settlers to the middle of the nineteenth century. White Americans have had greater opportunities than anyone else since the beginning of time. This may seem racist, but it is the truth. In “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” the slave owners were all white. The slaves were African American. African-Americans weren’t allowed to own property, have their

In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, the dehumanization of slaves often occurs, as white plantation owners view slaves as objects undeserving of humane treatment in order to uphold power and warrant their unjust practices. Limiting knowledge and prohibiting education for African Americans was one strategy common among slave owners, as “it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant” (17). Due to their lack of intellect, slaves could not recognize the injustices of the slavery system and had little chances of escaping. When Mrs. Auld attempts to teach Frederick Douglass how to read and write, Mr. Auld claims, “A n***** should know nothing but to obey

Amongst the injustice and brutality of slavery is the exclusion of education and knowledge. The slaveholder would tactically deprive the slaves of any knowledge because it would expose them of slavery’s injustice. This act dehumanized the slaves to a great extent, and at the same time forbade them to pursue any form of freedom, physically or spiritually. Hugh Auld, Douglass’s master reasoned that “it was unlawful, as well as unsafe, to teach a slave to read” and believed “If you have a nigger an inch, he will take an ell.” (Douglass 40, 41) Auld advocated his reasoning by calling a slave “unmanageable,” “unhappy,” and “discontented” if enlightened. Douglass however understood differently. The withdrawal of literacy and knowledge, he believed, was one of the greater factors keeping blacks inferior to whites in society. The Narrative also documents the many physiological effects of slaveholding. Douglass carefully explains the masters whipping their slaves when they least deserve it, and overlooking their deeds when they most deserve it. The killing of a slave is also considered the least of an offense or crime, and is simply gone

Stowe presents slavery in the only way she knows how, by using the facts. Several sources of other works in American literature contrast on to how Stowe presents slavery in her novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin." The elements of slavery are driven through the reflections of theme, characterization, and setting to show that the way slavery is presented is not contradicting.

So Stowe was accurate in portraying Eva’s mother as thinking slaves did not need to read and also accurate in her view of slaves in general. She viewed slaves as inferior when she said slaves were “not made for anything else” but for work (Stowe 286). This is an example or one theme in Stowe’s novel that is right in line with current historical research.

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.

Accordingly, harsh punishments were enacted if anyone was caught teaching a slave how to read. In turn, slave owners created a society where “It was dangerous to educate slaves” because “education made blacks dissatisfied with slavery” (236). This illustrates the immense power of knowledge as only an educated slave could discover an alternate world to slavery, which is exemplified with the use of the word “dissatisfied”. Slave owners recognize this power by ruthlessly attempting to keep the value of education away from their slaves despite their physical control over them. In addition, it was considered “dangerous to keep a [educated] slave” as they might “run away and [you would] lose your investment” manifesting the idea that only barrier standing in the way of slave from freedom is education (80). This illuminates that the power that emanates from the “whip” can’t suppress an educated slave as it exclusively relies on fear, but once educated there no longer exists the reason to fear. Moreover, the slave owners fear that they would lose their “investment”, portraying the idea that the slave owners can’t control their slaves through physical power. For example, Margaret and her husband “resent [Dana]” due to their “[lack of] education”, which is why “educated slaves aren’t popular” (80). Thus, Tom Weylin only despises educated slaves because of their threat to his authority emphasizing how education superior to the