Uncle Tom's Cabin Chapter 1 Analysis

It has been reported, that in December of 1862 during a visit to the White House, President Lincoln greeted Harriet Beecher Stowe by saying “Is this the little woman who made this great war?”. President Lincoln was referring to the influence Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin was believed to have had on the start of the civil war. There are a couple of indicators that while reading Stowe’s novel, the reader could support the President’s comments. Her novel gave the readers in the 1800’s a glimpse into the moral and political forces that surrounded slavery. She was also able to create a realistic account of slavery, with this realism she was able to provide relatability to her characters. Stowe’s writings, would help question the morality of slavery by portraying how slavery operated as a business with the buying and selling of human beings. Stowe illustrates with her writings that even slave owners grappled with the morality of the buying and selling of humans. In chapter 5 she describes a “business” transaction between Mr. Shelby and Haley. The reader is given a picture of how even in the South people struggled with their moral compass during these types of …show more content…
In chapter 14 the author eludes to the frame of mind Stowe would have been in while writing her novel. It states “Stowe epitomized the powerful religious underpinnings of the abolitionist movement” (612), this undoubtedly would set her tone within the novel. If further states that “Stowe was disgusted by the Fugitive Slave Act” (612), which was passed as part of the Compromise of 1850. The compromise enabled Congress to avoid slavery issues for several years which showed willingness of political figures to negotiate on slavery which is what disgusted Stowe. In her novel she was able to make clear, that all Americans, not just those in the south, are thereby responsible for