Essay On Abolitionist Literature

Changes occurring in response to slavery around the first half of the nineteenth century created disunity between the North and South, starting the Civil War. Compromises in legislation surrounding slavery caused tensions between free states and slave states. The South’s growing reliance on the cotton industry tied them economically to slavery, while the North was predominantly focusing on manufacturing, leading them to rely on different types of economies. Abolitionist literature in the North helped change people’s view on slavery as not only a political issue to a moral issue as well.
Political compromises between free and slave states caused tensions to grow, as each side was unsatisfied with their gains and losses. One of the first compromises concerning slavery was the Missouri …show more content…
For example, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin which depicted the life of a slave named Tom and his cruel owner Simon Legree. Published in 1852, it was the most influential book of the time as it moved Northerners and Europeans to view slavery as evil, and Southerner’s as heartless monsters. Southerners rejected these ideas as lies and distanced themselves further from the Northerns because they felt they were personally prejudiced against them. Even some Southerners were turning on the institution of slavery, but for a different reason that many Northerners. In 1857 Hinton R. Helper published his book Impending Crisis of the South which provided another reason to abolish slavery. He used statistics gathered from the time to show how slavery was actually weakening the South’s economy rather than strengthening it. The book was quickly banned in the South but was popular in the North with Abolitionists and Free-Soilers. Despite different motives, abolitionist literature helped to strengthen the abolitionist movement, while further alienating the South and threatening the