Uncle_Tom's_Cabin

Uncle Tom’s Cabin Paper Racism played a large role in the flourishing of slavery. Racism was completely socially acceptable back then. Most white people actually believed that they were superior because of their race. They believed that the ideals in the Declaration and Constitution didn't need to apply to blacks. But the real reason slavery survived (until the Civil War) is economics. The economy of the Southern United States was based on such crops as cotton, tobacco, and rice. All of those are very labor-intensive, and they require a huge workforce to grow. Farm and plantation owners didn't want to pay people to work on their farms when they could have slave labor for free. So they had a huge economic interest in keeping slavery intact. While this went against human rights and freedom, it seems that when money is at stake, people are almost always willing to overlook those things. Uncle Tom’s Cabin shows us what was going on, from beatings to auctions, as many of us turned the other cheek. This quote from the book, by George Harris, really shows how bad the times were. "But now what' Why, now comes my master, takes me right away from my work, and my friends, and all I like, and grinds me down into the very dirt! And why' Because, he says, I forgot who I was; he says, to teach me that I am only a nigger! And all this your laws give him power to do, in spite of God or man.” Uncle Tom was an old slave. Tom's two biggest qualities are his constant goodness and piety. He is a passive Christ-figure. He’s generally willing to suffer out of love, and he models all his actions on the Jesus he reads about in the gospels. Tom dies so that Emmeline and Cassy can be saved, and his last encounter with Legree is reminiscent of Jesus' final conversation with Pilate. Uncle Tom consistently forgives the wrongs committed against him and turns to God in times of crisis. From learning to read the Bible and writing letters to his family, Tom is consistently trying to improve himself despite the limits placed upon him by slavery. Tom also serves as a Christian leader for the other slaves in the novel by keeping everyone’s faith strong when in doubt and even doing Christian acts such as carrying Prue’s basket for her when she doesn’t have the strength to do it herself, putting some of his cotton into Lucy’s bag because she is struggling to fill hers, and even refusing to follow Legree’s order to whip her. Here is a quote of Uncle Tom talking to the brutal Simon Legree that shows just how truly Christ-like Uncle Tom was: "I’d give ye my heart’s blood; and, if taking every drop of blood in this poor old body would save your precious soul, I’d give ’em freely, as the Lord gave his for me." This brings us to our next character Simon Legree who is Tom's last earthly master. Legree is a Yankee who has moved to the South to make his money in the plantation business. He is an alcoholic. He brutalizes his slaves, and forces them to live in poor conditions. Because he does not have the respect of other slave-owners, Legree wants his slaves to grovel before him. The fact that Tom finds comfort in the Lord and will patiently bear any load is discomforting to Legree, who begins to hate him immensely. Simon Legree’s malicious hatred of Tom is utterly evil, and utterly unrestrained. No law, person, or religion will stand in his way if he wants to vent his psychopathic fury on an innocent man. This quote shows the moment at which Stowe wants every 19th century reader to realize the full horror of slavery. "I hate him! And isn't he MINE' Can't I do what I like with him' Who's to hinder, I wonder'" Eliza Harris, wife of George Harris, is a relatively privileged slave of the Shelbys and a devout Christian. Her is a quote that I believe shows her undying faith "What are you going to do' O, George, don't do anything wicked; if you only trust in God, and try to do right, he'll deliver you." Although her life has been one of slavery, her mistress has been kind to her, her marriage has been pleasant, and she trusts that God will take care of her if she obeys her master. When she discovers that, contrary to his promises, her master is going to sell her young son Harry to the unscrupulous slave trader Mr. Haley, she immediately decides to run away. She escapes and reunites with her husband and mother. George Shelby is the master and mistress' son. At the beginning of the novel he is thirteen years old and teaches Tom to read. Over the years, while Tom is away, George grows into a young man concerned with justice for his family’s slaves. This is shown in one of his quotes where he speaks to the slaves he is finally able to free. This shows how truly kind hearted he was. “My good friends there'll be no need for you to leave me. The place wants as many hands to work it as it did before. We need the same about the house that we did before. But, you are now free men and free women. I shall pay you wages for your work, such as we shall agree on.” When his father dies, he and his mother straighten out the household finances, and then he goes to redeem Tom. Tragically, Tom is already on his deathbed when George reaches him. Inspired by his beloved Tom, young Shelby frees the slaves on his deceased father's plantation. One noticeable tragedy is, when Augustine dies, Marie shows her utter indifference toward the fate of her slaves. She sells them all at the public auction block, despite the fact that it was her daughter’s dying wish and her husband’s intention to free Tom, and despite St. Clare’s determination to dedicate himself to abolition. When Ophelia tries to remind Marie of these obligations, she has a convenient fit of illness. I did not like Marie St. Clare one bit. She is a hard-hearted, selfish hypochondriac, and seemed to be the villain of the story. This quote here not only shows her hypochondria, but also how she compares her foolish whims to the agony endured by her slaves: "Now, that's just like St. Clare! He never realizes, never can, never will, what I suffer, and have, for years. If I was one of the complaining sort, or ever made any fuss about my ailments, there would be some reason for it. Men do get tired, naturally, of a complaining wife. But I've kept things to myself, and borne, and borne, till St. Clare has got in the way of thinking I can bear anything." She is completely incapable of human sympathy, especially toward black slaves. She barely notices her daughter’s fatal illness, and she’s also reluctant to think hard about anything if it might cause her the slightest inconvenience to do so. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s inspiration for Uncle Tom’s Cabin was the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which made aiding or assisting runaway slaves a crime in free states. Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which was first published in 1852, is a carefully written anti-slavery argument. It is not only a novel, but also a sermon intended to convince a Christian audience that slavery is an evil institution and must be destroyed. The way in which she decided to attempt to destroy the institution of slavery was through Christianity. Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which was controversial from the start, relies on racial stereotypes to get Stowe’s point across. Stowe's novel had a heavy effect on the American public by worsening the tensions between the North and South that led to the Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln is rumored to have said, "So you’re the little lady who wrote the book that started this great war," when he met Harriet Beecher Stowe. The novel was a bestseller in the 19th century, selling over 300,000 copies in its first year. Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, was one of the most influential yet controversial books of her time and the same is true for today. Slavery in the United States continuously brings up strong beliefs and heated debates. Stowe used her novel to express her opinions of slavery and the African American race. Her views were way ahead of her time. She portrays both the overwhelming kindness and the horrible cruelty of human beings. The novel hooks the reader and enables him or her to see the harsh realities of life in the south during that time.