Truth of the Slaves

After many years of harsh slavery one little book became the catalyst for the Civil War. Harriet Beecher Stowe was an Northern girl who's father got moved down South and she finally saw the real caps behind slavery Reminiscent of the news coverage to violent reaction to Civil Rights marches in the South during the 1960's, Harriet Beecher Stowe's book Uncle Tom's Cabin brought about a sense of outrage in America that had not previously been seen. Stowe's revealed the cruelty of slavery in the South and the complicity of its neighbors to the North. Her book, more than anything, galvanize White women to demand that slavery be abolition.

Many White women had been previously seeking rights for themselves. Their priorities, however, were changed by Mrs. Stowe's work. Abolitionist organizations sprang up all over the North. For the first time, White women saw themselves playing pivotal roles in the politics of the day. This polarized the North and South on the issue of the rights of the State versus the rights of the Federal government.

In 1856, the Republican Party was established to fight against the expansion of slavery in the new territories in the West. Abraham Lincoln was the leader of this group and was a main abolitionist. During his presidential campaign, however, he did promise Southern voters that he would not push for abolishment in the states where slavery was currently legal.

Inside Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin portrays complicated relationships between Blacks and Whites in the antebellum period. Her purpose of writing this novel is to point out that how destructive slavery is to African-American people and that slavery should be condemned. By hearing that Christian and humane

Jennifer Nease Page: 2

people actually recommend the remanding escaped fugitives into slavery, as a duty binding on good citizens.

In Uncle Tom's Cabin how realistically and credibly does Stowe present slavery? 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. Through the character of Mrs. Shelby, Stowe seems to use her opposition against slavery the most. Mrs. Shelby's character realizes that slavery is unfair, unjust, and most of all unchristian. This theme of opposition of slavery can be compared to that of Henry David Thoreau, a transcendentalist in early American history. Thoreau was the author of a book entitled Civil Disobedience in which he expressed his views against slavery and the way the government did nothing to put an end to it. I bring up Thoreau because he was like Mrs. Shelby in a way. They both sided with the slaves, rather than go with the majority to say that slavery was a just cause. Deep down, morally, they knew it was wrong to control the life of another human being and not give them the freedom in which God intended for all. Thoreau tried to fight slavery in different ways than Mrs. Shelby, but they both had the same intent, to treat everyone equal regardless of their