Uncle Tom’s Cabin Ameenah Elam
Slavery • The North- somewhat for slavery • South- completely for slavery • No one challenged that
About Stowe • Grew up with “a prominent family of preachers” • witnessed several “runaway slave” incidents • Encouraged her to write UTC • Abolitionist, lived in Cincinnati for a while
Start of Book • Harriet Beecher Stowe- author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin • Submitted in “the National Era, a weekly newspaper” in 1952
Northern Reaction • North- somewhat against slavery • Stowe’s book enlightened them • “Across the north, readers became acutely aware of the horrors of slavery on a far more personal level than ever before.”
Southern Reaction • Didn’t change their view • UTC only angered them • “[Stowe’s] book was met with outrage and branded an irresponsible book of distortions and overstatements.”
Lincoln’s Election • Lincoln- anti-slavery candidate • “The novel paved the way to an antislavery candidate like Lincoln [while] it stiffened the South's resolve to defend slavery and demonize the North.”
The Civil War • Northern and southern tension over slave debate caused by UTC Civil War • “It demanded that the United States deliver on the promise of freedom and equality”, spurred the “abolition movement and contributed to the outbreak of the Civil War.”
James Baldwin • African American social critic and novelist- opposed • Stowe’s book- “worthless and dehumanizing”, “very bad novel” full of “excessive and spurious emotion
Frederick Douglass • African American supporter • Northerner • Stowe had “baptized with holy fire myriads who before cared nothing for the bleeding slave.”
David S. Reynolds • Historian, literary critic • a “colossal writer who mobilized public opinion against slavery, and proved…“a white woman’s capacity to enter into the subjectivity of black people.””
Langston Hughes and Leo Tolstoy • “"moral battle cry for freedom.“- Hughes (African American) • included “Uncle Tom’s Cabin on his short list of examples of the highest art flowing from love of God and man”- Leo Tolstoy (Russian)
Meaning of Uncle Tom • Offensive term from Uncle Tom’s Cabin • a person, particularly an African American, who would play the role of a sycophant towards some higher authority, specifically a Caucasian. They were often ridiculed or envied by other slaves or African Americans, yet got more attention from the Caucasians • Emphasized depth behind Stowe’s novel
Work Cited • “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” harrietbeecherstowecenter.org, November 24, 2013, http://www.harrietbeecherstowecenter.org/utc/ • “Harriet Beecher Stowe — Uncle Tom's Cabin,” ushistory.org, Monday, November 25, 2013, http://www.ushistory.org/us/28d.asp • David Reynolds, “Did a book start the Civil War? 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' is a testament to the power of culture”, nydailynews.com, November 21, 2013, http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/book-start-civil-war-uncle-tom-cabin-testament-power-culture-article-1.112605 • “Uncle Tom's Cabin Reconsidered: A Conversation with Henry Louis Gates & Margo Jefferson”, nypl.org, November 26, 2013, http://www.nypl.org/audiovideo/uncle-toms-cabin-reconsidered-conversation-henry-louis-gates-margo-jefferson
Work Cited • Andrew Delbanco, “The Impact of ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’”, nytimes.com, November 22, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/26/books/review/book-review-mightier-than-the-sword-by-david-s-reynolds.html?pagewanted=all&_r=2& • http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/images/modeng/public/StoCabi//52utc7.jpg pictures • http://acelebrationofwomen.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Stowe3.jpg picture • http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Frederick_Douglass_c1860s.jpg picture • http://therecordingrevolution.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Abraham-Lincoln-1280x1024-2-1.jpg picture
