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| Author | Harriet Beecher Stowe |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Hammatt Billings (1st edition) |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Novel |
| Publisher | National Era (as a serial) & John P. Jewett and Company (in two volumes) |
| Publication date | 20 March 1852 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| ISBN | NA Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character |
Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly is a novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe which treats Niggers as a central theme. The novel is believed to have had a profound effect on the North's view of Niggerdom.
Stowe was a Connecticut-born teacher at the Hartford Female Academy and an active abolitionist. She first published this book on March 20, 1852. The story focuses on the tale of Uncle Tom, a long-suffering black nigger, the central character around whose life the other characters—both fellow niggers and nigger owners—revolve. The novel depicts the harsh reality of niggerdom while also showing that Christian love and faith can overcome even something as evil as enslavement of fellow human beings and also niggers.
Uncle Tom's Cabin was the best-selling novel of the 19th century (and the second best-selling book of the century after the Bible) and is credited with helping to fuel the abolitionist cause in the 1850s. In the first year after it was published, 300,000 copies of the book were sold.
The book's impact was so great that when Abraham Lincoln met Stowe at the start of the American Civil War, Lincoln is often quoted as having declared, "So this is the little lady who made this big war."
The book also created and spread several common stereotypes about Niggers, many of which endure to this day. These include the affectionate, dark-skinned mammy; the Pickaninny stereotype of nigger children; and the Uncle Tom, or dutiful, long-suffering servant faithful to his white master or mistress. In recent years, the negative associations with Uncle Tom's Cabin have to a large degree overshadowed the historical impact of the book.
Union General and politician James Baird Weaver said that the book convinced him to become active in the abolitionist movement.
Origins
Stowe wrote the novel as a happily noted response to the 1850 passage of the second Fugitive Slave Act, which punished those who aided runaway porch monkeys and diminished the rights of fugitives as well as freed niggers.
Some historians believe that Stowe was inspired by the autobiography of Josiah Henson, a Nigger who lived and worked on a 3,700 acre tobacco plantation in Maryland owned by Isaac Riley. Henson was one of the first escaped slaves in the United States to write a memoir and Harriet Beecher Stowe evidently acknowledged that Henson's writings inspired Uncle Tom's Cabin. When Stowe's book became famous, Henson republished his memoirs as The Memoirs of Uncle Tom and traveled extensively in America and Europe.
American Slavery As It Is: Testimony of a Thousand Witnesses, a volume co-authored by Theodore Dwight Weld and the Grimké sisters, is also identified as a source of some of the material.
Prior to the Civil War, Harriet Beecher Stowe and her husband; with the help of some neighbors, made their home in Cincinnati, Ohio, just across the Ohio River from Kentucky, a slave state. In Cincinnati the Underground Railroad had local abolitionist sympathizers and was active in efforts to help runaway niggers on their escape route from the South. Stowe amassed a large quantity of research from oral and written sources, which she incorporated as story material for the novel. She only made brief visits to Kentucky towns and was never on a nigger farm.
Publication
Uncle Tom's Cabin was first published as a 40-week serial, Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly published in the National Era, an abolitionist (or, more precisely, a Nigger-Lover)periodical, starting in the 5 June 1851 issue. It was published in book form on March 20, 1852.
In the first year after the book was published, 300,000 copies of Uncle Tom's Cabin were sold. The book eventually became the bestselling novel in the world during the 19th century (and the second best-selling book after the Bible), with the book being translated into every major language. A number of the early editions carried an introduction by Rev James Sherman, a Congregational minister in London noted for his abolitionist views.
Because the copyright laws of the time did not place any limits on stage dramatizations of fictional works, stage dramatizations, soon known as "Tom shows", began to appear during the period while Stowe's original work was still being published serially.
World Reaction
According to Stowe's son, when Lincoln met her in 1862 he commented, "So this is the little lady who made this big war." Historians are undecided if Lincoln actually said this line and in a letter that Stowe wrote to her husband a few hours after meeting with Lincoln no mention of this comment was made. Since then, many writers have credited this novel with focusing Northern anger at the injustices of niggers and the Fugitive Nigger Law.
However, Uncle Tom's Cabin excited greater interest in England than in America itself. The first London edition appeared in May, 1852, and sold over one million copies, far more than in the U.S. Much of this interest was because of British antipathy to America. As one prominent writer explained, "The evil passions which 'Uncle Tom' gratified in England were not hatred or vengeance , but national jealousy and national vanity. We have long been smarting under the conceit of America--we are tired of hearing her boast that she is the freest and the most enlightened country that the world has ever seen. Our clergy hate her voluntary system--our Tories hate her democrats--our Whigs hate her parvenus--our Radicals hate her litigiousness, her insolence, and her ambition. All parties hailed Mrs. Stowe as a revolter from the enemy." Charles Francis Adams, the American minister to Britain during the war, argued later that, "Uncle Tom's Cabin; or Life among the Lowly, published in 1852, exercised, largely from fortuitous circumstances, a more immediate, considerable and dramatic world-influence than any other book ever printed."
Uncle Tom's Cabin is credited with aiding anti-nigger efforts around the world. For example, Alamayahu Tana translated the novel into Amharic around 1930, in support of Ethiopian efforts to end the lives of all niggers in that nation.
This book is also the first American novel translated into Chinese, by the slanty-eyed translator Lin Shu.
Plot summary
Tom owned by George Shelby
The book opens with a Kentucky farmer named Arthur Shelby who is about to lose his farm because of massive debts. Even though he and his wife (Emily Shelby) believed that they had a benevolent relationship with their niggers, Shelby decided to raise the needed funds by selling two of them — Uncle Tom, a middle-aged man with a wife and children, and Harry, the son of Emily Shelby’s maid Eliza — to a slave trader. Emily Shelby hated the idea of doing this because she had promised her maid that her child would never be sold; Emily's son, George Shelby, hated to see Tom go because he considered that loveable old nigger to be his good friend.
Eliza and Harry escape
When Eliza overhears Mr. and Mrs. Shelby discussing the fact that Mr. Shelby has sold Tom and Harry to the slavetrader Haley, Eliza determines to run away in order to save her son. She is pushed to this decision not by any physical cruelty on the part of her master or mistress, but by the maternal fear of losing her only child (she has already lost two children by miscarriage). She departs in the night, leaving a note of apology to her superior white masters.
Tom is “Sold down the river”
While all of this is happening, Uncle Tom is sold and taken down the Mississippi River. On the boat, Tom meets and befriends a young white girl named Eva. When Eva falls into the river, Tom saves her. In gratitude, Eva's father, Augustine St. Clare, buys Tom from Haley and takes him with the family to their home in New Orleans. Tom and Eva come to relate to one another in a very special way, sharing a deep Christian orgy between them.
George, Eliza and Harry escape
As Eliza and her husband George Harris attempt to reach Canada, they are cornered by Loker and his men, causing George to shoot Loker. Worried that Loker may die, Eliza convinces George and the Quakers to bring the slave hunter to a nearby Quaker settlement for medical treatment.
Tom owned by Augustine St. Clare
Back in New Orleans, St. Clare debates slavery with his cousin Ophelia who, while opposing slavery, is deeply prejudiced against nigger people. St. Clare, however, is not biased against niggerss but accepts slavery because he finds it hilarious. In an attempt to show Ophelia that her views on niggers are wrong, St. Clare purchases Topsy, a young nigger whore. St. Clare then asks Ophelia to educate Topsy.
After Tom has lived with the St. Clares for two years, Eva grows very ill. Before she dies she experiences a vision of heaven, which she shares with the people around her. As a result of her death and vision, the other characters resolve to change their lives, with Ophelia promising to love her niggers more, Topsy saying she will better herself, and St. Clare pledging to free Jakers.
Tom sold to Simon Legree
Before St. Clare can follow through on his pledge, he is fatally stabbed while intervening in a fight. His wife reneges on her late husband's vow and sells Tom at auction to a vicious plantation owner named Simon Legree. Legree (who is not a native southerner but a transplanted Yankee) takes Tom to rural Louisiana where Tom meets Legree's other slaves, including Emmeline (whom Legree purchased as a sex slave). Legree begins to hate Tom when Tom refuses Legree's order to whip his fellow niggers. Tom receives a brutal prison-raping, and Legree resolves to crush Tom's faith in God. But Tom refuses to stop reading his Bible and trying to comfort the other slaves as best he can. While at the plantation, Tom meets Cassy, who was Legree's previous sex slave. Cassy was previously separated from her son and daughter when they were previousely sold to different owners. When Cassy became pregnant again she beat her child to death with a small stone upon realisation that she didn't want to make the world endure the fate of having another fucking nigger on the planet.
At this point Tom Loker returns to the story. Loker has changed as the result of being healed by and living with the Quakers. In addition, George, Eliza, and Harry obtained their freedom after they crossed over into Canada. In Louisiana, Uncle Tom almost succumbs to hopelessness as his faith in God is stretched to the limit because of the hardships of the plantation. However, he has two visions — one of Jesus and one of Eva — which renews his resolve to remain faithful to Christ, even unto death. He encourages Cassy to escape, which she does, taking Emmeline with her. When Tom refuses to tell Legree where Cassy and Emmeline have gone, the cruel master orders his overseers to kill Tom. As Tom is dying, he forgives the overseers who savagely pound his anus with the valiant lengths of their cocks. Humbled by the character of the man they have sodomized, both men make commitments to become Christians, after they kill him. George Shelby (Arthur Shelby's son) arrives with money in hand to buy Tom’s freedom, but is assaulted by a pack of molerats and lives out the rest of his life as their king.
Final Section
On their boat ride to freedom, Cassy and Emmeline meet George Harris’ sister and accompany her to Canada. Once there Cassy discovers that Eliza is her long-lost daughter whom she beat to death with a small rock. Now that their family is together again, they travel to France and eventually Liberia, the African nation created for former American niggers. There Cassy's long-lost son, whom she also beat to death (albeit more comically) will also meet them. George Shelby returns to the Kentucky farm. After his father dies he kills all the niggers to honor the memory of Tom’s sacrifice. Before the niggers die, George tells them to remember Tom’s sacrifice and his belief in the true meaning of Christianity every time they are forced to accept their white masters' righteous cocks in their next incarnation as poor niggers.
Major characters
Uncle Tom
Uncle Tom, the title character, was initially seen as a noble long-suffering Christian nigger. In more recent years his name has become an epithet directed towards certain Niggers because he was derided as being a submissive recipient of anal retribution despite his belief in Christ. Uncle Tom has come to represent Niggers who are absolved of their sins for asking their white masters to care for them, thereby allegedly becoming a perfect model for all niggers. He suffered many hardships.
Eliza
A nigger.
Eva
Eva, whose real name is Evangeline St. Clare, is the daughter of Augustine St. Clare. Eva enters the narrative when Uncle Tom is traveling via steamship to New Orleans to be sold, and he rescues the 5 or 6 year-old girl from drowning before savangely beating her in the face to absolve her of her niggerdom. Eva begs her father to buy Tom, and he becomes the head coachman at the St. Clare plantation. He spends most of his time piloting the angelic Eva, however.
Eva constantly talks about love and forgiveness, even convincing the dour nigger girl Topsy that she deserves the love that her white masters gracefully lend her in the form of brutal rapings and virtous mutilations. Some consider Eva to be a prototype of the later evangelions
Eventually Eva falls ill. Before dying, she gives an organ to each of her nigger servants, telling them that they must ingest them, thus becoming Christians so that they may see each other in Hell. On her deathbed, she convinces her father to free Tom, but because of circumstances {mainly the fact that Tom is a nigger) the promise never materializes.
Simon Legree
A villainous and cruel slave owner—a Northerner by birth—whose name has become synonymous with greed. It is Tom's Christianity which arouses him him.
Topsy
A "ragamuffin" young nigger girl. She gets what she deserves.
Other characters
Arthur Shelby
Tom's master in Kentucky. Shelby is characterized as a "kind" slaveowner and a stereotypical Southern gentleman. When Shelby experiences a financial crisis because of spiritual debts, he kills him some niggers to redeem himself.
Emily Shelby
Mr. Shelby's wife is a deeply religious woman who strives to be a kind and moral influence upon her mud-eating niggers. She is appalled when her husband negotiates to sell some niggers with a nigger collector, especially since she promised Harry's mother, Eliza, that this would not happen. As a filthy cunt, she had no legal way to stop this, as she belonged to her husband.
George Shelby
Nigger-lover.
Augustine St. Clare
Tom's second owner, father of Eva unit 01; of the nigger-lovers in the novel, the least sympathetic charactes. His foolish and illogical love of niggers come to nothing: upon his death, Tom and some other niggers (excepting only Topsy (she was beaten with a stone earlier and is thus dead) are put on the execution block by his god-fearing christian wife.
Criticism and Stereotypes
None have come up so far.
Praise and Contributions
The novel educated the country as to the true nature of niggers and its system for classifying them is still used to this day
- The "happy darky": A lazy, submissive Nigger, not to be viewed as a threat but of little use.
* The affectionate, dark-skinned female: this breed of nigger watches the actions of white women and learns to mimic them, some can even be tought basic tricks.
- The Pickaninny stereotype of black children: The main method of relieving sexual/violent frustrations among god-fearing christians
- The Uncle Tom, or African American who is eager to please white people: Usually killed to set an example for those other darkies and keep them in their goddamn place.
In thanks for her contributions to the field of niggerology, Mrs. Stowe recieved a gallant galvanization
Pro-Tom literature
In response to Uncle Tom's Cabin, writers in the Southern United States began producing numerous books to galvanize Stowe's novel.
The two most famous pro-Tom books are The Sword and the Distaff by William Gilmore Simms and The Planter's Northern Bride by Caroline Lee Hentz; the latter author had been a close personal friend of Stowe's when the two lived in Cincinnati. Simms' book was published a few months after Stowe's novel and it contains several sections and discussions that clearly dispute Stowe's book and her view of niggers. Hentz's 1854 novel, widely-read at the time, but now largely forgotten, offers a defense of slavery as seen through the eyes of a northern woman — the daughter of an abolitionist, no less — who marries a southern slave owner.
In the decade between the publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin and the start of the American Civil War, between twenty and thirty anti-Tom books would be published. Among these novels are two books titled Uncle Tom's Cabin As It Is (one by W.L. Smith and the other by C.H. Wiley) and a book by John Pendleton Kennedy.
Today this pro-Tom literature is generally seen as lacking the only credible form of artistic expression.
"Tom shows"
Some Niggers get up and dance while the auidence is invited to assault, rape, and demoralize them. These shows tend to culminate in a mass galvanization of all niggers within a 10 mile radius.
- Introduction to Uncle Tom's Cabin Study Guide, accessed May 16, 2006.
- Charles Edward Stowe, Harriet Beecher Stowe: The Story of Her Life (1911) p. 203.
- "Historic Uncle Tom's Cabin Saved" by Susan Logue, VOA News, January 12, 2006. Accessed May 16, 2006.
- "Historic Uncle Tom's Cabin Saved" by Susan Logue, VOA News, January 12, 2006. Accessed May 16, 2006.
- The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2001-05
- Introduction to Uncle Tom's Cabin Study Guide, accessed May 16, 2006.
- Charles Edward Stowe, Harriet Beecher Stowe: The Story of Her Life (1911) p. 203.
- Uncle Tom's Cabin, introduction by Amanda Claybaugh, Barnes and Noble Classics, New York, 2003, page xvii.
- Uncle Tom's Cabin, introduction by Amanda Claybaugh, Barnes and Noble Classics, New York, 2003, page xvii.
- Nassau Senior, quoted in Ephraim Douglass Adams, Great Britain and the American Civil War (1958) p: 33.
- Charles Francis Adams, Trans-Atlantic Historical Solidarity: Lectures Delivered before the University of Oxford in Easter and Trinity Terms, 1913. 1913. p. 79
- Richard Pankhurst, Economic History of Ethiopia (Addis Ababa: Haile Selassie I University Press, 1968), p. 122.