Silverman 1 Michael Silverman Mr. Martin AP US History 10-12-2007 ID Paper Uncle Tom’s Cabin: A Historically Accurate Novel or an Impassioned Propaganda Pamphlet? Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe, is by far one of the most controversial protest novels ever written. Stowe created a firestorm of controversy in both the North and the South, changing how and what the antebellum populace thought about slavery virtually overnight. The North was amazed by the horrors of slavery and readily adapted Uncle Tom’s Cabin for the abolitionist cause, taking as fact the barbarous treatment of Uncle Tom and other slaves depicted in the novel. Ordinary Northerners who had never owned, let alone seen, a slave, were transformed into ardent abolitionists after reading Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The South, however, accused Stowe of historical inaccuracy throughout the novel and was "shocked" by what Stowe portrayed as slave life on Southern plantations. Little did the North and the South know that even though they held opposing beliefs about the novel, they were both correct in regards to its historical accuracy; Stowe was historically unfaithful in certain parts of the novel but consummately accurate in others. Her inclusion of historically inaccurate information was not an accident; it was done with the purpose and skill of a professional propagandist to further spread her abolitionist ideals throughout the population. Stowe is not the first, nor the last, to use historically inaccurate information to further the acceptance of her ideals. For instance, just two years after the publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Silverman 2 The Planter's Northern Bride by Southerner Caroline Lee Hentz was published. The novel disputed Stowe’s portrayal of slavery; it claimed that slavery was an essential institution, and that Blacks were better off with white overseers than without them. 1 Even though the characters in The Planter's Northern Bride are fictitious, the social situations they face are not. Although sometimes historically inaccurate in her portrayal of the slavery, such as when she states that she has “never witnessed one scene of cruelty or oppression, never beheld a chain or manacle, or the infliction of punishment…” Hentz uses this incorrectness to further her proslavery beliefs and her critique of abolitionism.2 Even though Stowe and Hentz hold contradicting beliefs, beliefs representative of the North and South respectively, both authors use historically inaccurate information to enhance one’s knowledge and influence one’s perspective of the time period and to further their opposing causes. Despite Stowe’s manipulation of historical facts, one’s previously held knowledge of the antebellum era definitively improves one’s appreciation of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. It permits one to compare an outsider’s perspective (that of a textbook reader’s) of the era to that of a common citizen’s, a citizen who experienced the era firsthand. Reading Uncle Tom’s Cabin also greatly enhances one’s understanding of the emotions and the feelings of the “inarticulate” during the antebellum period in the United States; the inarticulate being the slaves, the slave catchers, the slave auctioneers, some slave owners, and the common citizen. The novel also provides a perspective of slavery and abolitionism that is unattainable through textbook readings and in class discussions, giving the reader a broader perspective of the personal hardships that slaves were forced to bear and the passionate feelings that belonged to Northerners and Southerners alike. Despite the fact that Stowe claimed it was written by God, the passionate emotions of Northerners, Southerners, and especially critics imbued Uncle Tom’s Cabin with a divided reception.3 Silverman 3 Jane Tompkins, an English professor at Duke University, praised Uncle Tom’s Cabin as the most important book of the 19th century and Darryl Wellington states that “it was a social phenomenon, and [was] arguably, the most influential novel in American history”.4 In addition, Frederick Douglas describes the novel as “a work of marvelous depth and power. Nothing could have better suited the moral and humane requirements of the hour.”5 In contrast to Tompkins, Wellington, and Douglas, Stowe was accused by Robert Fogel and Stanley Engerman in Time on the Cross of misrepresenting aspects of slavery and perpetrating myths that continued to plague Blacks long after the novel had fallen from the mainstream.6 James Baldwin did not think highly of the popularity of the book, stating flatly that “it is a very bad novel…”7 and that Stowe “wasn’t a novelist as much as an impassioned pamphleteer.”8 To a certain extent, Baldwin was correct in his impression of Stowe. She was very passionate about her work and she employed techniques frequently used in pamphlets, such as detailed, yet easily accessible imagery, to elevate Uncle Tom’s Cabin to a popularity never before attained by a protest novel. These vivid narratives, whether they involved Uncle Tom being sold at an auction house or Evangeline St. Clare bidding farewell to the mortal world, gave audiences in both the North and the South uncomplicated access to the novel and its abolitionist ideals. Due to the fact that these easily accessible images were absorbed by more than 2.5 million people during the first year of publication, the imagery’s impact should not be discounted.9 Ellen J. Goldner, an English professor at The City University of New York, believes that it is responsible for the creation of an imaginary community of abolitionists, imaginary in that none of its members would ever see each other in real life.10 This “imaginary” community of readers was responsible for the rapid growth of abolitionism in the North. Silverman 4 It is also no coincidence that this apocryphal community of devoted readers united, for the most part, around their common Christian faith and their mutual attraction to Stowe’s use of Christianity in the novel. Elaborating on the use of Christianity in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Moody Prior, an English professor at Northwestern University, plainly states that Stowe’s religious bias permeates the novel.11 This is evident to anyone who has thoroughly read the novel. Her bias is evident in Uncle Tom’s unwavering faith in Christ and in the remarkable coincidence that any character against slavery is also very religious and Christian (with the exception of St. Clare). Uncle Tom’s death at the end of the novel is regularly compared to the martyrdom of Jesus Christ. For example, Mr. Wellington states that Uncle Tom is a “Christ symbol.”12 Tompkins views religion as an integral part of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, stating that it does not just quote the Bible; in fact, it rewrites the Bible as a Negro slave story, thoroughly incorporating both Biblical verses at the beginning of most chapters and religion into the dialogue of Uncle Tom among other characters.13 Due to the fact that “Black Christ” or Uncle Tom is the central character in the novel, criticism and comments from reviewers about him are numerous. For example, Hudson praises the character of Uncle Tom, downplaying his flaws and admiring his goodness, nobleness, and, above all, his ability to live up to Stowe’s Christian idealism.14 Wellington characterizes Uncle Tom as “a kind of superman. Or, rather, a super-Christian.”15 While Uncle Tom is generally viewed with great admiration and respect due to his hardworking, pious nature throughout the novel, Stowe’s portrayal of Uncle Tom is viewed with great resentment and opposition by Baldwin. Baldwin believes that Uncle Tom is portrayed in a farcical manner, in that his purpose is to serve as an acceptable form of a Negro to Stowe, one who has been purified of sin and “robbed of his humanity and divested of his sex.”16 Baldwin believes that Uncle Tom should not Silverman 5 be the only acceptable form of a Negro, and that Stowe has created Uncle Tom solely to brainwash her readers into believing that only a good, pious, Christian Negro is worthy of equality and freedom. While different reviewers criticized diverse aspects of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, there was and still is debate over the historical accuracy of the greatest protest novel of all time. Did Stowe’s firm feminist and Christian beliefs affect her portrayal of religion and home life in Uncle Tom’s Cabin? How realistic were the stories of Uncle Tom, Eliza, and St. Clare? But most importantly of all, how accurately did Stowe portray the central issue of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, slavery? Stowe’s feminist ideals were demonstrated on multiple occasions throughout the novel. She took many opportunities to promote feminism and its ideals while at the same time demonstrating the absurdity of some prejudices against women. For example, in the novel, Stowe often relocates the center of power in American life, transplanting it from the government and the factories, which were male dominated, to the kitchen, which was an area typically controlled by women.17 In the Shelby household for example, Aunt Chloe, Uncle Tom’s wife and the main cook, is the true taskmaster of the Shelby estate. She controls the food, and if another slave did not complete his assigned tasks, the slave would not be permitted to eat. This gave great power to the women working in the kitchen. In addition to the relocation of power, she also depicted how few rights women possessed. In a passage in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Mr. and Mrs. Shelby discuss the financial prospects of repurchasing Uncle Tom and bringing him back to the Shelby estate. Mr. Shelby first tells his wife that it will be hard to bring Tom back very soon. The scene then proceeds as follows: Silverman 6 It does seem to me, my dear, that something might be done to straighten matters. Suppose we sell off all the horses, and sell one of your farms, and pay up square?” Oh, ridiculous, Emily! You are the finest woman in Kentucky; but still you haven’t sense to know that you don’t understand business; -- women never do, and never can.18 Stowe then goes on to narrate: Mrs. Shelby ceased talking, with something of a sigh. The fact was, that though her husband had stated she was a woman, she had a clear, energetic, practical mind, and a force of character every way superior to that of her husband; so that it would not have been so very absurd a supposition, to have allowed her capable of managing, as Mr. Shelby supposed.19 In this passage, Stowe portrays how women do not have the opportunity to discuss financial matters with their husbands during this historic time period. Even though Mrs. Shelby has a force of character “superior to that of her husband” in every way, she is still not allowed control of the estate’s finances. This portrayal of women’s rights in terms of managing estate financial matters is extremely accurate for the time period. Upon marriage, for example, the husband received all of the woman’s property, and could then either squander it or improve upon it as he saw fit.20 Women were often treated as second class citizens and had little to no rights, especially after they had been married.21 Stowe’s feminist leanings are reflected in her heavy emphasis on the separation of slave family members and the utter destruction and emotional pain it caused the mothers. The grief caused daily by the slave trade was most clearly elucidated in the following passage, in which St. Clare’s slaves were put up on the auction block: Silverman 7 Susan is sold! She goes down from the block, stops, looks wistfully back, -- her daughter stretches her hands towards her. She looks with agony in the face of the man who has bought her, -- a respectable, middle-aged man, of benevolent countenance. “Oh, Mas’r, please do buy my daughter!” “I’d like to, but I’m afraid I can’t afford it!” said the gentleman, looking, with painful interest, as the young girl mounted the [auction] block, and looked around her with a frightened and timid glance. The blood flushes painfully in her otherwise colorless cheek, her eye has a feverish fire, and her mother groans to see that she looks more beautiful than she ever saw her before.22 This heart-wrenching affair is only one of the portraits that Stowe creates in the novel. Unfortunately, this scene in the novel is a realistic portrayal of how slaves were sold at auctions. If mothers had many children, the sale began with the eldest child and proceeded until all of the children had been sold, typically to different bidders.23 Traders often took the babies right out of the mother’s arms due to the fact that a baby decreased the value of a field hand.24 Although Stowe does not concretely portray a mother’s murder of her child (she only briefly mentions that Cassey, Simon Legree’s mistress, killed her young infant), Negro mothers often knew that they would be separated from their children eventually, and rather than suffer the pain of separation, they would sometimes kill them soon after they were born.25 Stowe even admits after the recently mentioned passage that this type of thing happened every day; the crying of separated mothers and daughters could not have been helped.26 There was also the slaves’ never-ending fear that they would be sold “down river” or to a Southern plantation. Stowe demonstrates this fear quite Silverman 8 accurately twice in the novel. The first display is by Aunt Chloe, Uncle Tom’s wife, soon after she finds out he will be sold by Mr. Shelby, their owner: Will you wait to be toted down river, where they kill niggers with hard work and starving? I’d a heap rather die than go there, any day!27 The second example occurs during a brief discourse by Stowe describing some of the fears that slaves were forced to endure: The threat that terrifies more than whipping or torture of any kind is the threat of being sent down river.28 “Down river” was synonymous with hard labor, floggings, and a death sentence. The heat and humidity in the South created health problems for slaves and owners alike.29 Slaves were often forced to work when they were sick, which was quite frequently; this resulted in an even shorter life span than if they were healthy and worked on a Southern plantation.30 Stowe is once more historically correct in her depiction of the slave auction and the slaves’ fear of being sold “down river”. The slave auction, however, was only the beginning of a life of hardship, abuse, and labor for most slaves, including Stowe’s protagonist, Uncle Tom. After the death of Augustine St. Clare, Uncle Tom was sold to a Louisiana plantation owner named Simon Legree. It is at this point that Stowe begins to describe the horrors of slave life on a Southern plantation. All of Tom’s possessions are taken away upon his arrival, and he is gruffly given a set of clothes that he is told need to last him for the next year of work on the plantation.31 Uncle Tom is then transferred to the slave housing, which was located among “a street of rude shanties … [that] had Silverman 9 a forlorn, brutal, forsaken air. …[The shanties] were mere rude shells, destitute of any species of furniture, except a heap of straw, foul with dirt, spread confusedly over the floor…”32 As it is late in the evening, Tom is soon given a bag of corn with which to make his dinner. After eating his dinner, he goes to sleep, only to awaken within a couple of hours to start work in the field. Tom soon becomes an adept cotton picker, but he is slowly worn down by the 18-hour work days. His condition is further exhausted by the constant whippings that he received from either Simon Legree or the two black overseers, Sambo and Quimbo. Eventually he is beaten to death by Sambo and Quimbo due to his reluctance to give information pertaining to the runaways Cassy and Emmeline. Once again, Stowe has done her research very well. Her description of Tom’s labor on Simon Legree’s cotton plantation is extremely accurate, from the living quarters and the supplied meals to the treatment of the slaves and the tediousness of the cotton picking. As Stowe implied, the gift of one suit of clothes per year is accurate for the state of Louisiana, which has a warmer than average climate. In colder climates, slaves were given two suits of clothes, a thick suit for winter and a thin suit for summer.33 Stowe’s description of Uncle Tom and the other slaves’ living quarters on Simon Legree’s plantation is also very accurate. The bare floors and straw “furniture,” or lack thereof, were common occurrences in slave abodes. Housing for the slaves was usually no more than a hut of the poorest kind.34 Most of the huts had little to no structural integrity and were frequently destroyed in heavy storms. The huts almost never had fireplaces and usually had a single window that also served as the door. True to Stowe’s portrayal, hut villages were often constructed on larger plantations, as they were the cheapest and most efficient method of housing. They took up the least amount of land and were easy to monitor for slaves attempting escape. Silverman 10 Stowe is once more accurate in her description of the rations given to slaves on Southern plantations. In the novel, Uncle Tom and the other slaves were given one peck of corn per week, which they must grind down to make a sort of cake.35 This is identical to the description that esteemed Episcopal minister Rev. Horace Moulton gives: It was a general custom, wherever I have been, for the masters to give each of his slaves, male and female, one peck of corn per week for their food. This at fifty cents per bushel, which was all that it was worth when I was there, would amount to twelve and a half cents per week for board per head. … This is all that good or bad masters allow their slaves... 36 Corn was very cheap, filling, and nutritious and was able to feed slaves properly (according to their owners) in only one meal per day. Stowe is also correct in her description of mealtimes and how the slaves went about cooking their meals. Slaves often woke up at dawn and worked in the field until dusk; only after a long day’s work were they allowed to eat.37 If they came up short in the field, however, they would often times be lashed and/or have their meal taken away. While Stowe has been historically accurate so far, she did make some mistakes and/or omissions in the area of punishment and the abuse of slaves on Southern plantations. Stowe is accurate regarding her depiction of Uncle Tom and his punishment (lashing) when he refused to obey Simon Legree.38 Lashings occurred daily on Southern plantations, often more severely, than those imposed upon Uncle Tom. Tom is only whipped to a point at which he is still able to heal, even though his defiance of his master’s direct order is a major offense. It was not unheard of for slaves to be whipped for absolutely no reason until they fainted or until they died from a loss of blood. Rev. Moulton again aids in describing slave whipping: Silverman 11 The masters often whip for the smallest offences, such as not performing their tasks, being caught by the guard or patrol by night, or for taking anything from the master’s yard without leave. For these, and the like crimes, the slaves are whipped thirty-nine lashes, and sometimes seventy or a hundred, on the bare back.39 Stowe’s portrayal of slave whipping falls short in its failure to mention how the slaves are usually beaten. For example, she alludes to it on multiple occasions (Cassy speaks of the “whipping tree” and later hides in the “the garret”40), but she never visually describes it like she does with so many other images. Slaves were often whipped in public with their hands tied and their bodies raised up, sometimes hanging from a tree.41 This was not the worst of the whipping however, as Rev. Moulton describes below: It is very common for masters to say to the overseers or drivers, “put it on to them,” “don’t spare that fellow,” “give that scoundrel one hundred lashes,” etc. Whipping the women when in delicate circumstances, as they sometimes do, without regard to their entreaties or the entreaties of their nearest friends, is truly barbarous. If Negroes could testify, they would tell you of instances of women being whipped until they have miscarried at the whipping post.42 After the whippings, the slaves often had “pepper tea” pressed into their wounds. Slaves were also frequently tortured by the use of iron collars and iron gags in their mouths. 43 Even more terrible than the whippings and the collars was when slaves were: branded with hot irons, pursued with firearms and shot, hunted with dogs and torn by them, shockingly maimed with knives, dirks, etc; have their ears cut off, their eyes knocked out, their bones dislocated and broken with bludgeons, their fingers and toes cut Silverman 12 off, their faces and other parts of their persons disfigured with scars and gashes, besides those made with the lash.44 As can be seen by the above description, it is evident that Stowe “went easy” on the slaves on Simon Legree’s plantation. However, even though she selectively omitted descriptions and images of slavery, she still furthered the abolitionist cause. It is obvious why Stowe left this information out. Stowe did not want to visually depict all of the horrors of slavery as to make the novel so painful and unreadable that her message was lost in the gruesomeness of slavery. By carefully calculated omissions, she helped to further her antislavery message and abolitionism by allowing more readers to absorb some of the “moderate” horrors of slavery, leaving the most barbarous acts previously mentioned above to their imaginations. Stowe’s act of omitting graphic descriptions of grotesque practices in the South is further reinforced by the character Emmeline, a 15 year-old girl Legree bought at the slave auction with Uncle Tom. It was not uncommon for female slaves in the South to be sexually exploited or raped by their masters.45 In this case, Stowe alludes to Legree’s intention to sexually abuse Emmeline in the following exchange between Legree and Emmeline: “Well, my dear,” he said, chucking her under the chin, “keep up your spirits.” The involuntary look of horror, fright, and aversion with which the girl regarded him, did not escape his eye. He frowned fiercely. “None o’ your shines, gal! you’s got to keep a pleasant face, when I speak to ye, --d’ ye hear?46 Silverman 13 Once on the plantation, Stowe again alludes to what Simon Legree intends to do, but does not explicitly state it. Legree says to Emmeline, “Come, mistress, you go in here [the plantation house] with me.”47 Due to the fact that Legree already had a mistress, Cassy, it is not illogical to conclude that he bought her purely for his sexual pleasure. Harriet Jacobs, a slave turned abolitionist, further supports this conclusion with the following quote: “The condition of women under slavery could be doubly cruel. They were held in bondage not only for their labor but also, frequently, for their use as sexual servants.”48 However, again, even though Stowe is not as graphically descriptive as to be 100% accurate, it serves the book, her audience, the time period, and her overall goal as an abolitionist writer. There is no need for her to be completely accurate, with graphic descriptions of rape and sexual exploitation. The lack of it allows the reader to imagine it while at the same time allowing Stowe to reach a broader audience. If Stowe had included it, she would have pushed the boundaries of what the very Christian population could bear. Stowe was very aware of the Christian political and social rules that she had to follow in order for her book to become a success, and she follows them to the edge of what is acceptable, always inching forward the cause of abolitionism. This awareness of society’s Christian ideals came from her father, who was an evangelical Calvinist preacher. He was extremely religious, driving his six sons to become preachers and his older daughter, Catherine, to found the Western Female Institute, a religious school at which Harriet taught.49 Her family, along with being very religious, was also vehemently against slavery; her family’s beliefs were the source of her Christian and abolitionist ideals. 50 Her religious background is revealed in numerous ways throughout the novel; aside from her knowledge of what the Christian community would be able to read, she also impressed her religious ideals upon Uncle Tom and the other slaves in the novel. Silverman 14 Christianity was important to the slaves in Uncle Tom’s Cabin; however, its importance among slaves in the real world varied. As discussed previously, Uncle Tom was so Christian, pious and upright that he was called a “Black Christ.”51 Although religion was important to slaves, it was never as important as it was to Uncle Tom. Slaves often believed due to Christianity that they were just as equal as their masters in God’s eyes.52 Christianity also offered hope to slaves and allowed slaves to take what they wanted from the religion. Some believed in the afterlife where everyone would be equal and live in harmony, still others took the music and prayers from sermons and recited them in the field or in secret religious ceremonies.53 Overall, Christianity’s importance to slaves lay in the fact that it gave them hope and often a break from their normal tedious routine. Although Stowe does not even describe a black church or a black preacher, she does illustrate some degree of religion among slaves. For example, Uncle Tom and the other slaves purchased by Simon Legree are forced to sing a song, so they sing a Methodist hymn that talks of freedom and Jerusalem.54 Although Stowe does not make religion the primary focus in her novel, aside from her portrayal of Uncle Tom’s faith, what she chooses to address is historically accurate and pleasing to her Christian readers. While Uncle Tom’s Cabin information about slavery and slave life was exceptionally accurate overall, can the same degree of historical accuracy apply to the tales of Uncle Tom, Augustine St. Clare, and Eliza and George Harris? It appears that, once again, Harriet Beecher Stowe has done her research and has presented characters that, for the most part, are based on either personal observations and beliefs or true historical accounts. Take Augustine St. Clare, a kind and wealthy plantation owner who does not treat his slaves harshly or work his slaves in the fields. The occurrence of a kind slave owner in the Deep South, while very hard to imagine, could have happened. A rich aristocrat with no need for the Silverman 15 wealth that his slaves’ labor would have provided, and one that had at least partial abolitionist tendencies could have had a situation similar to that of St. Clare. While Augustine St. Clare’s aristocratic character is completely fictitious, the plausibility of his story does exist.55 Many of the Revolution’s greatest men and aristocrats held beliefs similar to those of Augustine St. Clare. For example, Patrick Henry, famous for his “Give me liberty or give me death” speech, was astounded that in the most enlightened age the world had ever seen, the institution of slavery still existed.56 Even though there is no specific individual that Stowe based Augustine St. Clare’s character off of, the existence of aristocratic individuals holding beliefs similar to those of St. Clare is highly likely.57 The accuracy of Eliza Harris’s daring escape across the Ohio River is different than that of St. Clare’s in that it is based on a factual story. There is a multitude of evidence supporting that and similar events from numerous sources. Reverend John Rankin, in Fleeing for Freedom, describes his encounter with the real Eliza Harris: “The river was about to break up; the water was running upon the ice; she waded over, carrying her infant in her arms. She came to my house. The doors were not locked; she entered the kitchen, made a fire, dried her clothes, then searched for the family, found my sons and asked them to help her. They arose and took her two miles further before day.”58 The Reverend then proceeds to describe his impression of Eliza’s reason for fleeing. He believed that “she had been mistreated by her Kentucky mistress and decided to flee with her small child.”59 While the Reverend’s account of Eliza’s escape across the Ohio River is consistent with Stowe’s portrayal, the reason why she was fleeing is not. Levi Coffin’s version of Eliza’s heroic Silverman 16 story is more similar to that found in Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Coffin describes the account as follows: She said she was a slave from Kentucky, the property of a man who lived a few miles back from the Ohio River, below Ripley, Ohio. Her master and mistress were kind to her, and she had a comfortable home, but her master got into some pecuniary difficulty, and she found that she and her only child were to be separated. … She watched her opportunity, and when darkness had settled down …she …walked straight toward the Ohio River. She knew that it was frozen over, at that season of the year, and hoped to cross without difficulty on the ice, but when she reached its banks at daylight, she found that the ice had broken up and was slowly drifting in large cakes. She ventured to go to a house nearby, where she was kindly received… In the evening she discovered pursuers nearing the house, and with desperate courage she determined to cross the river, or perish in the attempt…. Clasping her babe to her bosom with her left arm, she sprang on to the first cake of ice, then from that to another and another.60 After reaching the other side, she proceeded to Coffin’s home where he gave her dry clothes and helped her onward to another station on the Underground Railroad. This account of Eliza’s story is eerily similar to that which appears in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, so similar, in fact, that it was generally believed that Coffin and his wife were Simeon and Rachel Halliday, the Quaker couple who helped Eliza in Uncle Tom’s Cabin.61 While Levi Coffin’s account of Eliza is more similar to that of Stowe’s, it is actually Reverend John Rankin’s account that Stowe based her version of Eliza upon.62 The probability of Eliza’s story being historically accurate is, therefore, extremely high. Silverman 17 The story of Stowe’s principal character, Uncle Tom, is very similar in terms of how historically accurate it is compared Eliza Harris’s story. Stowe based the character Uncle Tom on a man of the name Josiah Henson.63 Henson attended a religious camp meeting when he was a young man and was henceforth a devout and pious Christian. He was so pious and upright, that at one point his master had to move from Maryland to Kentucky, so he put Henson in charge of the transportation of the other slaves. Henson did not seek freedom, instead choosing to remain loyal to his master, considering it the upright and Christian way to conduct himself.64 This is very similar to Uncle Tom in that Tom was allowed to run Mr. Shelby’s plantation and financial affairs. This afforded him great freedom and liberty, and at times, gave him opportunities to run away. However, akin to Henson, he remained loyal to his master.65 Even though Tom was naturally upright and faithful, his loyalty was not caused exclusively by love for his master; Tom was also afraid of what could occur if he ran away. He could be suspected as a runaway and captured by a slave catcher, another slave owner or any citizen under the Fugitive Slave Act.66 The future was extremely cloudy for runaway slaves and due to the fact that Tom had a relatively good master; there was no reason for him to tempt faith. Even though Tom and Henson are similar in most respects, there is one key difference between them. Henson escaped slavery and eventually becomes a Methodist minister in Canada. The same cannot be said of Uncle Tom, who died brutally at the hands of Simon Legree and his two black overseers, Sambo and Quimbo. This difference and fault in the accuracy of Uncle Tom’s story is not problematic, however. Uncle Tom’s death was necessary for the novel’s plot and for Stowe’s propagandist aims. How would Stowe illustrate that slavery is an inhumane system if Uncle Tom did not die and was able to escape to Canada to live a long life? The martyrdom of Uncle Tom was Silverman 18 necessary to emphasize the brutality inherent in slavery and to motivate abolitionists in the North to redouble their efforts in the abolition of slavery. Previously mentioned above, the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 plays a huge role in Uncle Tom’s Cabin. As an amendment to the 1793 procedures set up to return runaway slaves to their owners, the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 created officials in every county in the United States to enforce the law. It also established fines and prison sentences for anyone caught helping a slave escape.67 The Law is most evident in a discussion between Ohio Senator John Bird and his wife, Mary Bird, just before Eliza arrives at their house seeking shelter: There has been a law passed forbidding people to help off the slaves that come over from Kentucky, my dear… And what is the law? It don’t forbid us to shelter these poor creatures a night, does it, and to give ‘em something comfortable to eat, and a few old clothes, and to send them quietly about their business? Why, yes, my dear; that would be aiding and abetting, you know.68 … Now, John, I want to know if you think such a law as that is right and Christian? You won’t shoot me, now, Mary, if I say I do! I never could have thought it of you, John; you didn’t vote for it? Even so, my fair politician. Silverman 19 You ought to be ashamed, John! Poor, homeless, houseless creatures! It’s a shameful, wicked abominable law, and I’ll break it, for one, the first time I get a chance; and I hope I shall have a chance, I do! Things have got to a pretty pass, if a woman can’t give a warm supper and a bed to poor, starving creatures, just because they are slaves, and have been abused and oppressed all their lives, poor things!69 Stowe uses this exchange to show the inhumanness of the Fugitive Slave Law in addition to furthering her feminist ideals. Stowe portrays slaves as “poor, homeless, houseless creatures” who should be pitied and taken care of. In doing this, she appeals to every single mother reading Uncle Tom’s Cabin by showing that the Fugitive Slave Law goes against what motherhood and maternal feelings inspire: the instinct to take care of those in need. In addition, she places the mother in the position of power: as the one conducting the questioning. She also uses this passage to show that even though they are slaves, they are just as worthy of receiving help as a fleeing white man is. This incorporation of runaway equality is one part of Stowe’s abolitionist philosophy. The practice of helping runaway slaves was well known in the North, hence the existence of the Underground Railroad.70 Even though the Fugitive Slave Law made helping runaway slaves illegal, many did so anyway, including the famous Harriet Tubman. Stowe’s inclusion of the Fugitive Slave Law was historically accurate for the most part. Northerners largely disobeyed the law, helping slaves when they could, often by not helping the officials or slave catchers trying to reclaim them.71 In addition to her authentic portrayal of the Fugitive Slave Act, her portrayal of the men that participate in the recapture of slaves, slave catchers, was also extremely accurate. Stowe’s portrays slave catchers’ mannerisms in the character of Tom Loker, the slave catcher that Haley hires to reclaim his runaway slave Eliza.72 Stowe describes Loker’s appearance as one that is Silverman 20 “shaggy and fierce” and one in which “every organ and lineament [is] expressive of brutal and unhesitating violence”.73 She then describes the vicious dogs that “tore a feller half to pieces…,” which are owned and later used to track Eliza and George Harris by Loker.74 Her description of Tom Loker as violent and fierce man is accurate compared to that of slave catchers of the day. They were usually white men who were only in the business for the lucrative bounties paid for either catching or, in some cases, killing a runaway slave.75 Slave catchers would, if the slave did not surrender, “shoot at him, as soon as he would a deer.”76 Stowe’s depiction of the slave catchers’ dogs is also dreadfully precise. Slave catchers often kept large numbers of dogs solely for the purpose of catching slaves.77 Once the slave catchers were close enough to the slaves, they would simply let the dogs go, and if the slave still did not surrender or happened to shoot at one of the dogs, the slave catcher, as previously mentioned, would shoot the slave without hesitation.78 Stowe does not explicitly show dogs tearing a runaway slave apart due to the nature of her audience. Again, even though Stowe omits certain historical information, it does not detract from the images caused by her novel. Overall, Uncle Tom’s Cabin is one of the most historically accurate protest novels ever written. The characters are based on true-to-life civilians, and if they are not, such as St. Clare, they are based on observations and testimony from witnesses that support the existence of heretofore mention characters. Stowe’s description of plantation life is accurate to a fault, and her descriptions of family separation and sexual abuse inherent in slavery are succinct and authentic in every facet. The only faults that can be found in the historical accuracy of Uncle Tom’s Cabin can be attributed to the fact that Stowe knew her audience very well. She knew the precise quantity of graphic imagery and description the antebellum audience could tolerate, while at the same time allowing her readers to imagine just how bad the horrors of slavery could be. Stowe’s Silverman 21 fantastic ability to judge her audience and the era were directly proportional to the success of the novel and most likely, the eventual freeing of the slaves. President Abraham Lincoln sums up the rationale and aims of Harriet Beecher Stowe in Uncle Tom’s Cabin in a single sentence during his visit with Stowe: “So this is the little lady who made this big war.”79 Notes 1 Caroline L. Hentz. "Caroline Lee Hentz, 1800-1856. The Planter's Northern Bride." Documenting the American South homepage. 8 Oct 2007. 8 Oct 2007 1-10. 2 Hentz 1-10 Jane Tompkins, "Sentimental Power: Uncle Tom's Cabin and the Politics of Literary History." 3 Sensational Designs: The Cultural Work of American Fiction, 1790-1860, 1 (1985): 125. 22 Sep 2007 4 Tompkins 125; Darryl Wellington, "Uncle Tom's Shadow." The Nation 25 December 2006. 22 Sep 2007 . 1. 5 Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass : Autobiographies : Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave / My Bondage and My Freedom / Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (Library of America). (New York: Library of America, 1994) 726. 6 Douglas 726. James Baldwin and Toni Morrison, James Baldwin : Collected Essays : Notes of a Native Son / 7 Nobody Knows My Name / The Fire Next Time / No Name in the Street / The Devil Finds Work / Other Essays (Library of America). (New York: Library of America, 1998) 11. 8 Baldwin and Morrison 12. Moody Prior, "Stowe's Uncle Tom." (JSTOR, 5.4, 1979) 635-650. 22 Sep 2007 9 . 635. 10 Ellen Goldner, "Arguing With Pictures: Race, Class, and the Formation of Popular Abolitionism through Uncle Tom's Cabin." (Journal of American & Comparative Cultures, 24.1 of 2 (2001)) 71-75. 22 Sep 2007 . 71. 11 Moody 644. Wellington 5. Tompkins 8. Benjamin Hudson, "Another View of Uncle Tom." (JSTOR, 24.1 1963) 79-87. 22 Sep 2007 12 13 14 . 81,86-87. 15 Wellington 5. Baldwin 12. Tompkins 14. Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin. (New York: Signet, 1966) 274. Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin 275. "Women's Rights." West's Encyclopedia of American Law. The Gale Group, Inc, 1998. Answers.com 16 17 18 19 20 23 Sep. 2007. http://www.answers.com/topic/women-s-rights 21 “Women’s Rights”. Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin 359. Theodore D. Weld, American Slavery As It Is: Testimony of a Thousand Witnesses. (New York: 22 23 Beaufort Books, 1968) 167. 24 Weld 167. Lewis Clarke, "Account of A Former Slave." Columbia American History Online. 23 Sep 2007. 23 25 Sep 2007 . 26 Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin 360. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin 50. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin 109. 27 28 29 "Antebellum slavery." PBS. 8 Oct 2007. 8 Oct 2007 . 50 "Harriet Beecher Stowe." The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Columbia University Press., 2003. Answers.com 09 Oct. 2007. 51 Wellington 3. John O Allen and Clayton E. Jewett. Slavery in the South: A State-by-State History. (Westport, Conn: 52 Greenwood Press, 2004) 72-73. 53 Allen and Jewett 73. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin 367. Harriet Beecher Stowe, Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin. (New York: Beaufort Books, 1987) 67. Stowe, Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin 62-63. Stowe, Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin 61. George Hendrick, Fleeing for Freedom: Stories of the Underground Railroad as Told by Levi Coffin 54 55 56 57 58 and William Still. (Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, Publisher, 2004) 13. 59 Hendrick 13. Hendrick 63-65. Hendrick 62-63 Fergus Bordewich, Bound for Canaan: The Underground Railroad and the War for the Soul of 60 61 62 America. (New York: Amistad, 2005) 371. 63 Charles L. Blockson, The Underground Railroad. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1987) 268; James Tackach, Words That Changed History - Uncle Tom's Cabin (Words That Changed History). (Detroit: Lucent Books, 2000) 51. 64 Tackach 51. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin 12. Weld 22. 65 66 67 Martin A. Klein. The A to Z of Slavery and Abolition (Historical Dictionaries of Religions, Philosophies, and Movements, No. 40). (Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2002) 154. 68 Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin 91. Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin 92. Klein 261. Douglas T, Miller. "Fugitive Slave Laws." Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. 2007. Grolier Online. 9 69 70 71 Oct. 2007 . 72 Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin 74. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin 75. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin 83. Klein 260. Weld 21. Weld 21. Weld 21. Charles Edward Stowe, and Lyman B. Stowe, Harriet Beecher Stowe: The Story of Her Life (Boston: 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 Houghton-Mifflin, 1911) 203. Works Cited Allen, John O., and Clayton E. Jewett. Slavery in the South: A State-by-State History. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2004. "Antebellum slavery." PBS. 8 Oct 2007. 8 Oct 2007 . Douglass, Frederick. Frederick Douglass : Autobiographies : Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave / My Bondage and My Freedom / Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (Library of America). New York: Library of America, 1994. Dudley, William. Turning Points in World History - American Slavery (paperback edition). Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2000. Engerman, Stanley L., and Robert William Fogel. Time on the Cross: The Economics of American Negro Slavery. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1974. Everett, Susanne. History of Slavery. (United States: Book Sales, 1991.) Goldner, Ellen. "Arguing With Pictures: Race, Class, and the Formation of Popular Abolitionsim through Uncle Tom's Cabin." Journal of American & Comparative Cultures, 24.1 of 2(2001): 71-75. 22 Sep 2007 . "Harriet Beecher Stowe." Biographies. Answers Corporation, 2006. Answers.com 09 Oct. 2007. . "Harriet Beecher Stowe." The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Columbia University Press., 2003. Answers.com 09 Oct. 2007. . Hendrick, George. Fleeing for Freedom: Stories of the Underground Railroad as Told by Levi Coffin and William Still. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, Publisher, 2004. Hentz, Caroline L.. "Caroline Lee Hentz, 1800-1856. The Planter's Northern Bride." Documenting the American South homepage. 8 Oct 2007. 8 Oct 2007 . Hudson, Benjamin. "Another View of Uncle Tom." JSTOR, 24.1(1963): 79-87. 22 Sep 2007 . Klein, Martin A.. The A to Z of Slavery and Abolition (Historical Dictionaries of Religions, Philosophies, and Movements, No. 40). Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2002. Miller, Douglas T. "Fugitive Slave Laws." Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. 2007. Grolier Online. 9 Oct. 2007 . Prior, Moody. "Mrs.Stowe's Uncle Tom." JSTOR, 5.4(1979): 635-650. 22 Sep 2007 . Stowe, Charles and Lyman. Harriet Beecher Stowe, The Story of Her Life. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1911. Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin. New York: Beaufort Books, 1987. ---. Uncle Tom's Cabin. New York: Signet, 1966. Streissguth, Thomas. History Firsthand - Slavery (hardcover edition) (History Firsthand). Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2001. Tackach, James. Words That Changed History - Uncle Tom's Cabin (Words That Changed History). Detroit: Lucent Books, 2000. The Guardian. "Death in the Dust." Guardian Unlimited Books. 2 Feb 2002. 24 Sep 2007 . Tompkins, Jane. "Sentimental Power: Uncle Tom's Cabin and the Politics of Literary History." Sensational Designs: The Cultural Work of American Fiction, 1790-1860, 1 (1985): 122-146. 22 Sep 2007 . Weld, Theodore D.. American Slavery As It Is: Testimony of a Thousand Witnesses. New York: Beaufort Books, 1968. Wellington, Darryl. "Uncle Tom's Shadow." The Nation 25 December 2006. 22 Sep 2007 . "Women's Rights." West's Encyclopedia of American Law. 1 ed. 1998. Retrieved 23 September 2007 . Works Consulted Bloom, Harold. Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin (Bloom's Notes). Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publications, 1996. Bromell, Nicholas K.. By the Sweat of the Brow: Literature and Labor in Antebellum America. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press, 1994. Douglass, Frederick. Frederick Douglass : Autobiographies : Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave / My Bondage and My Freedom / Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (Library of America). New York: Library of America, 1994. Dunaway, Wilma A.. The African-American Family in Slavery and Emancipation (Studies in Modern Capitalism). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Johnson, Claudia Durst, and Vernon Johnson. The Social Impact of the Novel: A Reference Guide. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2002. Moss, Joyce. Literature and Its Times: Profiles of 300 Notable Literary Works and the Historical Events That Influence Them (Literature & Its Times). New York : Thomson Gale, 1997. Phillips, Ulrich Bonnell. American Negro Slavery. Gloucester, Massachusetts: Echo Library, 1959. Pgs 403-409.