LITR 4232 American Renaissance 2008
Text-Objective Presentation

Tuesday, 21 October: Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1698-1751, 1780-1792: introduction + selections from Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Text-Objective Discussion: Shanna Farmer

Harriet Beecher Stowe

1811-1896

·         Fugitive Slave Act of 1850- Made it illegal for anyone to assist escaped slaves

·         The death of her son, Samuel, made her more compassionate towards those who had endure loss

“Although she had little firsthand knowledge of slavery, she became increasingly interested in the abolitionist cause; now her deep sorrow forged an emotional link with the oppressed that was to push Uncle Tom’s Cabin far beyond the standard of abolitionist tract.” P. 1699

Works supporting the abolitionist movement:

·         Immediate Emancipation (1845)

·         Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852)

·         Key to Uncle Tom’s Cabin (c. 1853)

·         Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp (1856)

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

·         Sold three thousand copies the day it was published, and three hundred thousand by the end of that year

·         In the last half of the nineteenth century it was out sold only by the Bible

·         Made abolitionism commonplace, thrusting the United States closer towards the Civil War

“Her aim had been to inspire voluntary emancipation by compellingly demonstrating the evil and unchristian nature of slavery.” P. 1700

Course Objective:

#3. To use literature as a basis for discussing representative problems and subjects of American culture (Historicism), such as equality (race, gender, class); modernization and tradition; the individual, family; and community; nature; the role of writers in an anti-intellectual society.

In Uncle Tom’s Cabin, we follow several stories and meet many characters along the way, each of which tells of the horrors of slavery and the terror that most slaves inevitably face.  Most of the stories a centered around families that are torn apart, wives separated from husbands and children from their mothers. 

Question:

How were families of slaves structured pre-emancipation?  Could this be one of the worst aspects of being a slave?

Passages to refer to:

·         P. 1705. Paragraph 5

·         P. 1710. Paragraph 6-7

·         P. 1786. mid-page

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In the novel, Mr. Bird and Mrs. Bird have a disagreement when she finds out that the senate, which her husband is a part of, passed the Fugitive Slave Act, which he approved.  Each shares their case for and opposed it, but in the end Mr. Bird realizes he did not take into account the young woman and child that would need his help.

Question:

The Fugitive Slave Act caused a big stir among abolitionist, would you take Mrs. Bird’s side in opposing the law, or does the law mean enough to you that you stand by it regardless if you believed it to be right or wrong?

Passages to refer to:

·         P. 1723. Paragraph 1

·         P. 1723. Paragraph 6

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Question:

If history repeated itself and slavery (oppression) happened again, and you just so happened to be born the correct race, hair color, eye color, religion, political platform, etc., do you think you would stand up for what was right or would you hop aboard the bandwagon? (Remember the Milgram experiment and Jane Elliot’s classroom experiment)

Passages to refer to:

·         P. 1791. Paragraph 4