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The Horrors of Slavery in Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

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Introduction: Harriet Beecher Stowe’s book Uncle Tom’s Cabin was an amazing read that was truly inspiring. It was evident to me and clearly evident to others as well, that the book was written for a specific purpose. This purpose was to inform the American public of the horrors of slavery. The novel was set in the early 19th century. During this time period, slaves took up approximately 13% of the American population and for the most part worked on large plantations. Since very few people were plantation owners, or owned slaves for personal use, most of the American public did not have a great understanding of the hardships that an average slave had to go through. Through her writing, Harriet Stowe managed to illustrate perfectly what …show more content…

Even Mr. Shelby sees this characteristic, "Why, the fact is, Haley, Tom is an uncommon fellow; he is certainly worth that sum anywhere,—steady, honest, capable, manages my whole farm like a clock." Tom’s honesty is also shown during his time spent with Simon Legree. Simon was a brutal plantation owner who worked his slaves to death. Simon saw Tom as a potential overseer of the plantation and continuously beat Tom in attempts to harden him but Tom refused to change from his honest and kind ways. - The second characteristic Tom has is forgiveness. It is very difficult for Tom to hold a grudge. A great example of Tom’s forgiveness occurs at the end of the novel when he is being beaten to death by Simon Legree. Even though Simon was a horrible plantation owner to Tom and many other slaves, Tom forgives him right before he dies "There an't no more ye can do! I forgive ye, with all my soul!" -The final prominent characteristic Tom shows, is his faith. Everywhere Tom goes he spreads goodness and religious beliefs in hopes of helping other slaves deal with their hardships. Tom’s neverending faith prevails right to the end where he dies forgiving his killers. “These characteristics tie to the most basic form of persuasion, the appeal to human emotion.” All of Tom’s characteristics are positive and make the reader sympathetic when bad things happen to him. Second Body Paragraph: Secondly Harriet

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