Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe

1058 Words3 Pages

In 1962, Abraham Lincoln met Harriet Beecher Stowe. According to legend, he said, “So you’re the little lady who wrote the book that started this Great War” (Harriet Beecher Stowe Center). Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a controversial novel written about slavery during the 1800s, sparked many of the feelings that would eventually escalate into causing the bloodiest war America had ever seen. At the start of the novel, Mr. Shelby, a Kentucky plantation owner, must sell two of his slaves in order to settle his debt with Haley, a slave trader. Going against his conscience, he decides to sell Tom, an old religious and faithful slave, and Harry, a bright toddler. When Eliza, Harry’s mother, overhears Mr. Shelby discussing the issue with his wife, Eliza decides to run away. Eliza takes off, with hopes of meeting up with her husband in Canada who also decided to run away from his master earlier that day. . In the morning, when Haley discovers that Eliza had run away, he chases her until Eliza makes a daring escape across the Ohio River by running across chunks of floating ice. After employing a group of men to track down Eliza, Tom and Haley leave for New Orleans. On the way down the river in a steamer boat, Tom befriends a young girl named Eva and saves her from drowning when she falls overboard. Eva’s father, St. Clare, buys Tom to be Eva’s personal servant. Over time, the Tom and Eva grow very close. Eva, like her father, is very kind and devoted to her slaves. She even transforms the life of a hardened, young slave girl named Topsy. When it becomes clear that Eva, now quite ill, is going to die, she calls all of the servants together and gives them each one of her golden curls so they can remember her. Eva dies peacefully, but her family... ... middle of paper ... ...Print. Clendenning, John. "Uncle Tom's Cabin." World Book. 2002. Print. Donald, David Herbert. "Aboltion Movement in the United States." World Book. 2002. Print. Donald, David Herbert. "Underground Railroad." World Book. 2002. Print. "Impact of Uncle Tom's Cabin, Slavery, and the Civil War." The National and International Impact of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2013. . "North America Review." Rev. of Uncle Tom's Cabin. North American Review [Boston] Oct. 1853: 467-93. Stephen Railton, 1998. Web. 24 Sept. 2013. Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Uncle Tom's Cabin, Or Life Among the Lowly. New York: Sterling, 2012. Print Walpole. "Southern Slavery. A Glance at Uncle Tom's Cabin." Rev. of Uncle Tom's Cabin. New York Times 22 June 1853: n. pag. Stephen Railton, 2004. Web. 24 Sept. 2013

Open Document