Bueckman 1!

of 6
Daniel Bueckman
L4 English III CP
Ms. Norton
15 December 2016
Analysis Of Uncle Tom's Cabin
The story Uncle Tom's Cabin was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1851 shortly after
the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was passed. This act says that is is illegal for anyone in the United
States to help out a fugitive slave. The goal of this book was to attack this recently passed law
and end slavery in the United States. To accomplish the goal of having a slave-free nation, Stowe
placed themes into her story to change public opinion away from slavery. The main theme
throughout the book is that slavery is an evil creation. Stowe used this theme to appeal to
people's humanity and try and persuade them to put an end to slavery.
First of all, the main portion of the story is saying that slavery is an evil creation. Stowe
influenced her characters and how their stories are portrayed because she herself was an
abolitionist. Mostly, Stowe focused on the emotions of a situation and the troubles going on
internally. The setting of the story is at the calm and pleasant plantations of the Shelbys' and the
St. Clares', where the masters and slaves have what seems to be a positive relationship. For the
last third of the book, however, Stowe leaves behind the happy, peaceful, and calm sanctuary of
the two plantations and takes the readers to the Legree plantation, where slavery is in its most
uncovered and hideous form. This is a harsh setting where the slaves experience beatings, sexual
abuse, and sometimes even murder. This barbaric setting made Stowe's point in her overall theme
much more prominent, that slavery is an evil institution.

Bueckman 2! of 6
As for the emotional trials of this book, there were quite a few. Such as when Eliza learns
that her child was sold and was going to be taken from her. She then acted out of emotions,
risking punishment and death to protect her son. Thought her journey, she constantly is in fear
and anxiety. She would not be able to sleep at times due to the fact that she was so afraid. These
fears and anxieties make the reader think that slavery is not only horrible by looking at the scars
on their back, but it also makes them think about what it does to a person internally.
For the physical trials that slavery has, Tom gives the best example. He starts of at St.
Clare and was having a fairly good life so far. Everything changed when Tom was sold to Simon
Legree. He was a cruel and barbaric master to all of his slaves, often bringing violence against
his slaves as punishment. Tom sees what slavery truly is and urges Cassy and Emmeline, who
were fellow slaves, to run. Legree found out and gave Tom a choice of telling him what he had
known of their disappearance, or he would be beaten to death. Tom chose to not speak, so he was
beaten to death. This is the part in the story where the true nature of slavery and plantation life is
revealed.
In conclusion, the stories of Tom and Eliza in Uncle Tom's Cabin, written by Harriet
Beecher Stowe, show how slavery was barbaric and cruel emotionally and physically. Eliza
shows the emotional drain very well when she is in constant fear and anxiety as she attempts to
free her son and herself. Tom was Stowe's way of showing the extent of slavery. Legree beat him
and killed him. What struck that point home was when Tom forgave those who killed him. There
was nothing given to argue that Eliza or Tom should have been given this kind of punishment. In
my opinion, Harriet Stowe was successful in persuading people to understand that slavery is
barbaric and inhuman. This novel sold widely and increased the Northerners' opposition to

Bueckman 3! of 6
slavery. It worked fairly well because a while after it was published, South Carolina seceded
from the Union in 1860 because they wanted to keep their slaves. In the next following months,
more states left the Union and in 1861, the Civil War started. Three years later, in 1864, the
Fugitive Slave Act was repealed. In the end, the book served its purpose of repealing the act.

Bueckman 4! of 6
About the Author
Harriet Beecher Stowe, the writer of Uncle Toms Cabin, created social uprisings during
the Civil War in America during Abraham Lincolns presidency. Harriet was born as one of
thirteen children on June 14th, 1811 in Litchfield, Connecticut. Her mother was Roxana Foote
and her father was Lyman Beecher, a minister. She was cared for as a child by her older sister
Caraline, since her mother died when Harriet was very young. Through her years, she received
an education, which was mainly reserved for boys, and at the age of 21, Stowe moved to
Cincinnati, Ohio.
Harriet was very interested in literature, so she would often enjoy writing. Harriet go
married to a man named Calvin Stowe, who both shared a strong interest in abolition. In 1849,
Harriet Stowe visited a neighboring plantation to see the actual living conditions that slaves had
to endure. Later on in 1850, Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, which was the act that
allowed southern slaveholders with legal weapons to capture the slaves that had fled to free
states. This is when Harriet Stowe decided that she should take a stand to abolish slavery
positively by writing Uncle Toms Cabin.
Uncle Toms Cabin was Harriet Beecher Stowes most famous novel. It was published in
The National Era, an antislavery paper from Washington D.C. in 1851, then turned into a book
form released in 1852. Abolitionists quickly started clinging to the novel, while in the South, the
novel, and its author, were outspokenly rejected and despised. Reading, or even owning a copy
of the book in the South was very dangerous. She had revolutionized literature by writing the
first novel to ever show an African American protagonist, whose struggles were depicted by the

Bueckman 5! of 6
differing treatments between different masters good and bad. Harriet Beecher Stowe then went
on to write many other books about slavery such as Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp.

Bueckman 6! of 6
Cultural Analysis
When Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote her most famous novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, slavery
was a topic of controversy all over the states. The time period in which the book was published
was around the Civil War Era. Through her writing, Stowe gives her audience insight on how
rough life was for slaves.
When Uncle Toms Cabin was written, mid 1800s America, All of the states were in
controversy. Slavery lead to decades of oppression and segregation on the African American
population in America. Slave owners mainly used their slaves to live comfortable and easy lives,
caring less about their slave's health and conditions.
Also, laws were passed that fully allowed the owning of African slaves and had rules as
to who legally was considered a slave. This leads to a big problem of racial discrimination during
the time of the writing of Uncle Tom's Cabin. African slaves over time began to be treated like
animals and property, not like the people that they actually were.
The issue of slavery had the greatest negative effect on the societal views of the era.
Plantation owners used the slaves as free labor and treated them like garbage. Each plantation
owner lived off of the supply of produce from the fields which they never had to tend to.
Plantation owners were basically given free money without working for it. This deepened racial
bias and angered many people.