Title: Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Publisher's Summary
Published in 1852, Uncle Tom's Cabin brought the abolitionists' message to the public conscience - no woman before or since has so moved America to take action against an injustice. Indeed, Abraham Lincoln greeted Stowe in 1863 as "the little lady who made this big war."
Eliza Harris, a slave whose child is to be sold, escapes her beloved home on the Shelby plantation in Kentucky and heads North, eluding the hired slave catchers. Aided by the underground railroad, Quakers, and others opposed to the Fugitive Slave Act, Eliza, her son, and her husband George run toward Canada.
As the Harrises flee to freedom, another slave, Uncle Tom, is sent "down the river" for sale. Too loyal to abuse his master's trust, too Christian to rebel, Tom wrenches himself from his family. Befriending a white child, Evangeline St. Clare, Tom is purchased by her father and taken to their home in New Orleans. Although Evangeline's father finally resolves to free his slaves, his sudden death places him in the ranks of those who mean well by their slaves but never take action. Tom is sent farther downriver to Simon Legree's plantation, and the whips of Legree's overseers.
My Comments:
I purchased this book back in March of this year (2011) and started it a couple of times but put it down. It had a slow start, even boring at times. But I decided to revisit it over the summer, and I was blown away not only by the content but also by how vivid the writing is. Considering the period in which the book was published—the 1850s—I have a great deal of respect for Mrs. Stowe and am deeply moved to go back and read her biography in full.
I first came across this book when I was around 11 years old, back in Jamaica, right when I entered Jamaica College. However, I paid little attention to it at the time. It was an old copy from the years when my grandfather was a boy; to put things into perspective, my grandfather died in 1986 in his mid-70s.
I read about the slurs and stereotypes found in the book and understand why some might find fault with it, but after reading it, I believe this was a seminal piece of work that contributed to the end of slavery as we know it in the U.S. I would highly recommend that everyone, regardless of color, read this book.
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