Uncle Tom’s Cabin
A Book that Changed America
Introduction
Uncle Tom’s Cabin is known as one of the most controversial books of its time, mainly because of its depiction of the Southern slave owners in America during the 19th Centaury. It was due to the graphic nature and deplorable actions illustrated in this book, that it quickly rose to be the second best-selling book, only to be surpassed by the Bible, according to Global Education Network. This book has changed the United States for the better, since it can be argued that this was the point where the Southern States, (South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas,) seceded.
About The Author
Of Course, Uncle Tom’s Cabin was Harriet Beecher Stowe’s best-selling book and put her on the metaphorical map, but before we talk about the contents of the book; we should first know a little bit about Stowe’s life. Harriet Beecher Stowe was born June 14th, 1811 in Litchfield, Connecticut and was the sibling of ten other children. Harriet Beecher Stowe was not the only one in her family who changed the world. In fact, according to the HarrietBeecherStoweCenter.org, all seven of her brothers became ministers, her oldest sister (Catharine Beecher) pioneered education for women, her youngest sister (Isabella Beecher) went on to become the founder of the National Women’s Suffrage Association. Going back to Stowe’s life, her mother died when Stowe was only five, but ever since then she has been following in her mother footsteps in both her writing and art. At the age of twenty-one, Stowe married her husband, Calvin Stowe, and had six children in 1849. Unfortunately, her eighteen-month son, Samuel Charles Stowe, died of cholera, and is said to be the one of the reasons why she wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Harriet Beecher Stowe had written thirty books before her death on July 2nd, 1896 (due to natural causes.)
About The Book
Uncle Tom’s Cabin was released March 20, 1852 and quickly became a best seller and sold about 300,000 copies after its publication. The book itself is about a slave named Uncle Tom who was captured and sold into slavery. We the audience get to see what it was like to be a slave on the ship transporting them to America. We got to witness through the eyes of Uncle Tom the brutalities and the injustices that was slavery. After Uncle Tom was brought to America, he saved a young white girl’s life, which resulted in her father buying Uncle Tom. A healthy relationship quickly formed between Eva (The master’s daughter.) and Uncle Tom, but when Eva’s father died is when the actual brutality of slavery was shown. The descriptions of the slave hounds, and Uncle Tom’s death especially led to the rise of many abolitionist in the North. This book is often regarded as the book that laid the groundwork for the civil war because of the tensions that had risen because of the deplorable acts depicted in the book. The Southern states claimed that their way of life and actions towards slaves were not as extreme as what Stowe claimed it was, but the Northern abolitionist insisted otherwise. It was eight years after the release of Uncle Tom’s Cabin when the Civil War officially began, and because of Uncle Tom’s Cabin; England showed little sympathy for the Southern cause as England had outlawed slavery in 1833, thirty-two years before the United States.
The Legacy
Uncle Tom’s Cabin has influenced our society and its depiction of racism and bigotry, which is still used and cited today to show the injustices many minorities face. This book is taught and read in many schools as a way of bringing awareness towards the racist actions towards African Americans, just like how The Diary of Anne Frank is used to help illustrate the atrocities the Nazis committed during World War 2. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Legacy is still living on today as many people compare her writings to tragedies as the death of George Floyd, Emmet Till, and Trayvon Martin. Racism is still a prevalent part of today’s society and If Uncle Tom’s Cabin did not exist, then the United States could be a vastly different place. This is because the Civil War may have happened at a later date, there would be considerably less abolitionists, and England may not have sided with the Union causing the South to win the war.
Work Cited
Augustyn, Adam. “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/topic/Uncle-Toms-Cabin.
Anderson, Christian. “Banned Books Awareness: ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ by Harriet Beecher Stowe.” World Leading Higher Education Information and Services, 10 Apr. 2011, world.edu/banned-book-awareness-uncle-toms-cabin-harriet-beecher-stowe/.
“Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, www.harrietbeecherstowecenter.org/harriet-beecher-stowe/uncle-toms-cabin/.
