Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin is a work that portrays slavery as an inhumane construct through the trading and abuse of slaves, and mindset of whites. Stowe’s image of the slave trade is one that shows readers how unethical it really is. An instance of this is shown in the first chapter of the book in which Mr. Haley, a slave-trader, attempts to buy a slave from Mr. Shelby, the owner of Tom, whom this book is written about. For example, although Tom is an honest, hardworking slave, Mr. Shelby is willing to trade him to settle a debt he acquired with Mr. Haley. Despite Shelby’s unwavering trust in Tom’s work ethic, Haley believes that any slave is a dishonest one (pg. 4). Stowe’s inclusion of this statement shows her thoughts on
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Stowe made it clear that there were some kind-hearted whites, but she was not afraid to point out the ugly side of the slaveowners and traders. For example, slaveowners were unaffected by the thought of tearing apart families. In this example, Haley wanted to buy another slave from Shelby which would tear apart a family. While Shelby was opposed to the idea because he didn’t want to tear a family apart, Haley argued that it wasn’t immoral to do so because blacks don’t have the same emotions as whites (pg. 6). Stowe explores the horrors of the thought that blacks were not only thought to be inferior because of race but also because of emotional tolerance. The mindset of many white Southerners was that slaves weren’t anything better than dirt, which Stowe makes clear in the novel. Another mindset of many slave traders was that slaves were there for whites to make a quick buck. An example of this is brought into light when a slave named Aunt Hager commits suicide. This suicide comes about through the selling of her only remaining child, Albert. Once news of her son’s selling reaches her, she seems completely numb to the thought. That night, she jumps overboard of the ship she was upon and commits suicide. Haley, the man who had sold her son, doesn’t appear upset at her death, merely at the notion of money wasted (pgs. 111-113). This example shows how stone cold the average white slaveowner or trader really was. Seeing a human as money made or wasted is the lowest form of humanity. That is the equivalent of prostitution in today’s terms. The notion that white supremacists thought of blacks in such a manner proves how inhumanely they thought of slaves at the time
Stowe made it clear that there were some kind-hearted whites, but she was not afraid to point out the ugly side of the slaveowners and traders. For example, slaveowners were unaffected by the thought of tearing apart families. In this example, Haley wanted to buy another slave from Shelby which would tear apart a family. While Shelby was opposed to the idea because he didn’t want to tear a family apart, Haley argued that it wasn’t immoral to do so because blacks don’t have the same emotions as whites (pg. 6). Stowe explores the horrors of the thought that blacks were not only thought to be inferior because of race but also because of emotional tolerance. The mindset of many white Southerners was that slaves weren’t anything better than dirt, which Stowe makes clear in the novel. Another mindset of many slave traders was that slaves were there for whites to make a quick buck. An example of this is brought into light when a slave named Aunt Hager commits suicide. This suicide comes about through the selling of her only remaining child, Albert. Once news of her son’s selling reaches her, she seems completely numb to the thought. That night, she jumps overboard of the ship she was upon and commits suicide. Haley, the man who had sold her son, doesn’t appear upset at her death, merely at the notion of money wasted (pgs. 111-113). This example shows how stone cold the average white slaveowner or trader really was. Seeing a human as money made or wasted is the lowest form of humanity. That is the equivalent of prostitution in today’s terms. The notion that white supremacists thought of blacks in such a manner proves how inhumanely they thought of slaves at the time