Slavery in the 19th century
In the nineteenth century, slavery was already an established practice in the United States, especially in the Southern states, and it was accompanied by a series of legislations enacted for the regulation of the slave activities and the conduct in relation to the slaves and blacks who were freed from it. Enslaved Africans were a source of menial laborers to the Southerners in order for them to raise the states labor-intensive commercial crops such as sugar, rice, cotton and tobacco. However, owning a slave did not merely mean free labor but the whites also used to the slaves as means of exhibiting their social prestige and political influence in the society. The slave owners encouraged marriages amongst the slaves intending them to be less keen to revolt or run away. However the irony remained that despite having families, the threat of violence, sexual abuse and separation from their loved ones were constantly faced by the slaves from their masters.
Excerpts from Uncle Tom’s Cabin
A fictional novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin , depicted the real tales of former and fugitive enslaved people whom she met in Cincinnati, Ohio. The novel changed the perception of Americans of slavery which was practiced in the nation. This book demanded the country to keep to its word of delivering freedom and equality to all becoming a tipping point for the abolition of slavery and a source of contribution to the American Civil War.
The book
Just Versus Unjust Violence: A Rhetorical Analysis of Violence in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and Uncle Tom’s Cabin Frederick Douglass and Harriet Beecher Stowe present slavery in vastly distinct ways. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, author Frederick Douglass dives into a grisly world filled with bloodshed and in the middle of it a man willing to do what it takes to be educated and in control of his own person, narrated with the voice of reason. In Uncle Tom’s Cabin, author Harriet Beecher Stowe depicts a variety of characters, their struggle with slavery and religion, their personal relationships, and their deep inner feelings, with no small degree of emotion and sentimentality. Douglass and Stowe’s use of
Stowe implies that Christianity that denounces the immortality of slavery, which leads those who support the institution isolated. Uncle Tom’s cabin is also based on a slave who struggled during slavery and eventually escaped to Canada. By relating slavery through the eyes of a slave itself and by focusing on the ones struggle to find freedom for not only herself but her child made Stowe’s book did so much more than try to persuade people to oppose slavery but made a heart touching story for anyone struggling to fight for their own freedom.
The New York Historical Society (n.d.) states, “historically New York has been considered the capital of American liberty, hosting monuments devoted to freedom and promoting economic ambition as well as diversity; however, it is also, paradoxically, the capital of American slavery.” Slavery in New York started in the 1600s when the Dutch West India Company brought African slaves to what is today New York (GSA, n.d.). During the 17th and 18th-century, slavery was considered an investment and according to the New York Historical Society (n.d.), “almost every businessman in the 18th-century had a stake in the traffic of human beings.” Slaves improved the economy, they produced sugar, tobacco, indigo, coffee, chocolate, and cotton, which permitted
The Course, Patterns, and Reasons for the Development of Slavery in Colonial America Slavery is considered as the most brutal and harshest institution in the history of America. Especially, slavery existed in America from early 17th century until mid-19th century, after Congress had passed the 13th Amendment. During this dispensation, there were more than 4 million African American slaves living in America. The first people to enslaved in colonial America were native Americans. For thousands of years, aboriginal societies had engaged in various forms of slavery; at the time, the practice was, however, a temporary condition utilized as sign of status and not for money making (Franklin and Moss, Jr. 12).
Translated into countless languages, Uncle Tom’s Cabin flew off shelves and became a worldwide read. After the passing of the Fugitive Slave Law, an outraged Stowe set out to share the tales in hopes of alerting the North. Uncle Tom’s Cabin highlighted the cruel treatment of slaves; ranging from beatings to children being snatched from their mother’s arms. The publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin fanned the flames of the North- South conflict, contributing to sectionalism. As a result, the amount of Northern abolitionists multiplied.
People that owned slaves were mostly planters, yeoman, and whites. A slave is a person who is legal property of another and is forced to obey and that 's exactly what slaves did, they obeyed every command. Slaves were used for a lot of things in the 1800s. Slave women were usually used for cooking, cleaning, and helped with planter’s children.
There have been a select few writers who could be said to have changed a nation’s beliefs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, was a writer who changed America. This simple statement conveys much meaning. This is because she changed the course of American politics and thrust slavery further onstage, further into the limelight. Mrs. Stowe is sometimes even credited with having sparked the flame that would later become the raging conflagration of the American Civil War.
Freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. The foundation of America is freedom. Freedom from Britain. However, the freedom is limited to white males who own property. When colonists started to immigrate to America, they wanted to escape from under the rule of Britain.
When Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin because she wanted to stir up an anti-slavery statement. Slavery was already the unpopular choice for Northerners, but Harriet Beecher Stowe made the Northerners even more opposed to slavery. Slavery even became less popular in the Southern states. The novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin made many Northerners realize how unjust slavery was for the first time, and increased the differences between the North and the South.
The beginning of the 17th Century marked the practice of slavery which continued till next 250 years by the colonies and states in America. Slaves, mostly from Africa, worked in the production of tobacco and cotton crops. Later , they were employed or ‘enslaved’ by the whites as for the job of care takers of their houses. The practice of slavery also led the beginning of racism among the people of America. The blacks were restricted for all the basic and legally privileged rights.
Have you ever wondered how life was for the slaves in the South? Slaves in the South suffered through many consequences. For example, they suffered through many whippings with cow skin if they didn't obey their master, they also got separated from their family mostly the fathers, so, they can be sold to a very mean slave owner. Even if they were living a miserable life on the farms, they had their own culture and they managed to even get married in the farmland or where they worked. Not only did the slaves live on the farm.
In the nineteenth century, slavery was at its peak, reaching millions of slaves in the nation by the mid-1800s. As messages of equality were presented by free blacks, abolitionists, and Evangelical preachers, slaves in the south began to fight for their freedom. Slaves in America fought in both organized and unorganized ways, which eventually freed many slaves and enticed reactions from both pro-abolitionists and anti-abolitionists. Many slaves organized revolts to fight for their freedom. The first of these was held in 1800 by Gabriel Porter.
Between 1800 and 1860 two major things changed within the country. The cash crops changed from tobacco and rice to the new money maker cotton. Along with the crops changing the slave trade grew to replace the economic short fall in the Chesapeake area. These changed occurred due to the supply and demand of commonly bought goods. Another contributing factor for the crops changing was the invention of the cotton gin in 1793 and the use of cotton in textile facilities.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, focuses on slavery against abolitionists throughout the entire story. Stowe’s main effort was to turn her viewers against slavery and encourage them to blend in with the abolitionist movement. The most influential character that would affect me to shift to be apart of the movement would be Eva St. Clare. Eva is a eight to nine year old girl whose parents are slave owners. Although her parents are slave owners, Eva never had the same mindset as them.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe was written during the Civil War period. The book set in motion a monumental movement of anti-slavery in mostly the North and little of the South. The book is about a slave named Uncle Tom who is sold by his “loyal” owners. However, the book finishes with him being beaten to a death. If this book were made into a movie or play then people will be enlightened by the message the novel sends.