Uncle Tom's Cabin - Essay Example

Uncle Tom’s Cabin Stowe was a Connecticut born teacher at the Hartford Female Academy and an active Abolitionist. In this book: Uncle Tom’s Cabin, first published on20th 1852, in which Harriet Beeecher Stowe treats slavery as a central theme. Uncle Tom’s cabin is also known as Life among the lowly. The novel is believed to have had a profound effect on the North’s view of slavery.It is believed that the story laid a strong impetus for the civil war break out. The story focuses on the tale of Uncle Tom, a long suffering black slave: the central character whose life, the other characters-both fellow slaves and slave owners-revolve around.

The novel depicts the harsh reality of slavery while also showing that Christian love and faith can overcome even something as evil as enslavement of fellow human beings. The character Uncle Tom-African American maintains his integrity and refuses to betray his fellow slaves at the cost of his life. His firm Christian principles in the face of brutality made him a hero to whites. To the contrast his tormentor; Simon legree, the Northern slave-dealer turned plantation owner, enraged them with his cruelty.

King Cotton was a phrase commonly used by Southern politicians and Authors prior to the American civil war, indicating the economic and political importance of cotton (Harris.p.8)The enactment of emancipation proclamation in January 1863 capped two years of increasing support for emancipation in New York City. Although republicans attempted to keep abolitionist from taking a leading role in New York’s anti-slavery politics, by 1862 abolitionist speakers drew huge crowds, black and white in the city.

Increasing support for the abolitionist, and emancipation led to anxiety among New York’s pro-slavery white supporters of the Democratic Party, particularly the Irish. From the time of Lincoln’s election in 1860, the Democratic Party had warned the New York’s Irish and Germany residents to prepare for the emancipation of slaves and the resultant labor competition when Southern Black would supposedly flee north. Work CitedIn the Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626-1863 by Leslie M. Harris