Abstract
The novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, written in 1852, had a great influence on social life in America, first of all, by changing the mentality of readers about slavery. Stowe exposed such harsh realities, portraying the inhuman separation of families and the rottenness that this often led to. The novel used sentimental and melodramatic elements to touch hearts and raise awareness of the immorality of slavery, thus creating a strong anti-slavery feeling in the North. The book promoted the abolition movement in that it had a more mainstream approach, which made the movement more respectable, and hence more opposition to racially biased laws like the Fugitive Slave Act. Despite the fact that the book received criticism of its sentimentalism and historical accuracy, its enduring legacy is in the fact that it became the catalyst for the amplification of the social change debate on slavery, which eventually led to abolition in the United States of America.
Key words
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Slavery laws, Abolitionism, 19th century America, Legislative responses, public opinion
Introduction
The Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe is an antislavery novel published in 1852 and had a far-reaching influence on the public perception of Black Americans and slavery in the USA. The novel illustrates the life of several slave characters, especially Uncle Tom, a deeply religious and honest man, and his way of dealing with the turmoil of slavery and his attempts to live freely again.
The novel begins with Mr. Shelby, a Kentucky farmer, talking about a debt he has to a slave trader named Haley. In paying for debt, young Shelby must make a difficult decision and sell two of his slaves, Uncle Tom and Harry, Eliza’s maid’s son. After her terrified discovery of the plot, Eliza flies with Harry away to Canada, jumping on top of the blocks of ice on the Ohio River. On the other hand, Uncle Tom is sold to Haley and transported down the Mississippi River. While aboard the Mississippi, he encounters Augustine St. Clare, an opulent New Orleans resident who introduces Tom to his home. In a serendipitous encounter, Tom and Eva, St. Clare’s daughters happen to befriend each other and when Eva falls into water, Tom saves her life. St. Clare is marvelled and decides to treat Tom nicely. Eliza and her family with the Quakers are on their run towards the Underground Railroad, they vigorously try to outpace the slave catchers. At New Orleans, Eva gets sick and she dies. St. Clare vows to release Tom but he is killed in a fight before he can do it. Tom finally falls into the possession of the ruthless Simon Legree, who kills him by overworking him.
The novel portrays evils and immorality of slavery which is seen as forcible removal of families and human forthrightness decay due to the appearance of slavery. The main plots revolve around the thought that slavery and Christianity are not compatible, the moral leadership of women, and the fight to keep hope in conditions of despair. Stowe employs melodramatic and sentimental elements to move readers to the realisation of the immorality of slavery and the need for social change.
Research methodology
The thematic identity-based structure was used in the research methodology applied in the investigation on the effects of the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe on the plantation laws. This method of analysis was designed to show the way the book depicts slavery and its influence on social and political systems. Integral to the methodology was the historical analysis to discover the period of the novel’s composition, archival research to access documentations like legislative records and textual interpretation focusing on the themes and messages within the novel. Through the integration of these techniques, this research gave an overall analysis on how the law regime on slavery and society’s views were affected by Stowe’s work, which in turn helped us comprehend the societal impact of her work more clearly.
The selected method is justified because of the need to study in detail the role of Uncle Tom’s Cabin in the changing of slavery laws and social beliefs. Through a multifaceted approach that reflected historical context, archival research, and textual analysis, the research laid the platform for a better understanding of the role of the novel on the development of legal structure for the management of enslaved people and its significance in shaping public opinion. Subsequently, this methodological setting was designed to provide a basis for an intricate examining of the motifs contained in the tale as well as the feedback of them for the overall shaping of the society which in turn indicated that of the weight of the novel to the fight against the slave trade in the United States.
Review of literature
1. How did the publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin influence slavery laws in 19th century America?
The publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852 was a significant event that influenced the understanding and the perception of slavery in 19th century America. The novel was first printed in the anti-slavery journal “National Era” every month from June 1851 to April 1852. It is a strong showing on corruption of slavery and its influence on an individual and society.
Stowe’s work was a direct retaliation to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which demanded northerners’ involvement in the hunting down and returning of the runaway slaves to their southern masters. This law was profoundly disliked in the North, and Stowe’s novel tapped the growing anti-slavery feeling in the region. The description of how the slaves were treated with brutality, were torn from their relatives, and masters’ mandates of slavery morals did not stop readers but instead moved people to oppose the slavery view.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin published was the single most impactful book during the 19th century that touched American society more intensively than any other book during that period. It did not cause the abolition of slavery, but it was the novel that was the main reason why the public opinion got a turn against slave owning. In Stowe’s writing, the horrors of slavery are strikingly shown which in turn, convinced public opinions in the North that the politicians too couldn’t be indifferent. The novel proved a powerful trigger, bringing forth the abolitionist surge and eventually stimulating many individuals to take part in the movement. Moreover, the book made the literary world revolutionise by proving the novels’ power in dealing with social problems and opened the way for other writers who dealt with racism and inequality.
2. Impact on Public opinion
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, experienced a revolutionary effect on the way people looked at slavery and led to conversations about the fate of the institution totally in American society.
2.1. Influence on Public Sentiment: Stowe’s novel is of critical importance in creating feelings of emancipation of people through the politics of this country. It itself also influenced public opinion on slavery as well. In the novel, the character leads to a new perspective of the Africans. These people are shown as good Christians who were made slaves, their familiar family lives were hist off and their families were left behind. It is easy to feel the pity and understand the cruelty of slavery through their experience. The author portrays Uncle Tom as the epitome of saintliness and the slave owner Simon Legree as the villainous person. She managed to deliver the tragic effects of slavery and to create an emotional response in the readers.
2.2. Impact on Abolitionist Movement: Uncle Tom’s Cabin changed the abolitionist movement from being looked down upon to being respectable in the North, so that people who were previously not interested or suspicious of the anti-slavery efforts now pay attention to it. It is known that despite the limited circulation the novel enjoyed great success in the North, which, in turn, tended to change the minds of people and made abolition more popular. Thereby, the movement became less and less marginal and more and more mainstream. Stowe’s work didn’t only have an effect on readers. It influenced other works of antislavery literature, plays, and demand for its auction was stirred, all which fuelled the anti-slavery and racial discussions.
2.3. Regional Reactions: The novel was widely appreciated in the North, but it was not welcomed in the South where some people thought that Stowe had misleading facts and presented the institution of slavery in a wrong manner. Stowe depicts the real havoc that slavery caused and the moral crisis that slaves face in this journey of questioning the norm accepted society has resulted into the death of slavery.
3. Legislative response
The publication of the Uncle Tom’s Cabin led to the states and the federal government to propose legislation as reflections of the influence of the book on the national discussion of slavery.
In the Federal Level the book was a direct response to the Fugitive Slave Act, which was a part of the Compromise of 1850. Such a move resulted in the recapture and return of more escaped slaves to their masters. This made abolitionists angrier and they were asking for abolishing the act. This act of Congress only added fuel to her zeal and is the inspiration source of the book in which she portrayed the readers the inhumanity sides that comes along with this act and the moral predicaments it posed to the Northerners.
At State Level the Fugitive Slave Act sparked the implementation of Personal Liberty Laws by several Northern states to protect the rights of African Americans and restrain the enforcement of the federal law. The laws were the first to disobey with the Fugitive Slave Act and reveal the growing abolition sentiment in the North. Their implementation confirms the people’s political and social responses to Stowe’s book.
The publication of the book came on to an already existing tension and became a matter of concerns between Northern and Southern states over the attitude towards slavery. The emotional intensity of the novel increased the gap between the North and the South, with the novel making more Northerners to join the antislavery movement while the Southerners intensified their defence of slavery. This book served as the main catalysing factor in the fight over slavery in the nation and contributed to the progression of sectional tension which resulted in the American Civil War and the manumission of the slaves.
4. Legal precedents
Uncle Tom’s Cabin indeed left a mark on the change of hearts in the United States against slavery, which was, however, not so clear in influencing court judgements. This work brought no important new judicial decisions but it stimulated the growth of the abolitionists’ movement which disputed the legal bases of the slavery.
One of the cases the book was connected to is Somerset v Stewart in 1772. This decision by Lord Mansfield, the Chief Justice and head of the Court of King’s Bench, proved to be of great importance and has continued to have effects up to the present day. The case came with James Somerset, a slave of African descent, who was brought by his owner Charles Stewart to the UK. Somerset fled from the Stewart’s jail in 1771, and was captured and locked up on a ship that was to take him to Jamaica to be sold into slavery.
The case of Somerset v Stewart legally overturned the institution of slavery by English law through use of the judgement of Lord Mansfield, according to which Somerset could not be forcefully removed from England and sold as a slave in Jamaica. This decision was a landmark one since it proclaimed the slavery to be illegal in England though it never had been authorised as such by any of the country’s statutory procedures. The decision of Lord Mansfield was based on the principle that slavery could only be valid if it was supported by the law and not by moral or political reasons. The case acquired the reputation of stimulating the common law of slavery with the English-speaking societies and the developments it created found its application in the abolitionist movement.
On the contrary, the case had occurred several years earlier on March 22 in 1772, but Stowe mentioned this case in Chapter 37 when the character referred to the famous lines of the Irish lawyer John Philpot Curran in defence of James Somerset. Therefore, although the Somerset case was before the book, the latter utilised the former in its own influential work.
The novel’s influence on the public opinion may have played a key role in the abolitionist movement that had led to the landmark legal cases of the 1850s in opposition to the Fugitive Slave Act. Nevertheless, the courts mainly accepted the slavery law, which could be put into effect whenever a recaptured jailed fugitive had been sent back to their owners. The Dred Scott court decision of 1857 also confirmed that African Americans could not be citizens and that Congress could not prohibit slavery in federal territories. Whether through the book or another channel of refutation, in this period, the courts largely upheld the judiciary slavery system’s legal standing.
5. Criticisms
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, although it has portrayed the role of a significant instrument in creating the anti-slavery attitude in society, has been having several demerits and opposite perspectives from different quarters. Some critics, in turn, have accused the book of being excessive in its sentimentality and theatricality, thus failing to convey the characters to the reader in a realistic and credible way. The sentimentalism in the novel has been a subject of a debate, with some people saying that it simplifies the complex issues related to slavery and humanises the slave owners in a way that may not accurately reflect the hard reality of slavery.
Additionally, controversies arise concerning whether some parts are modelled on actual events or not. Critics have noted the fact that Stowe could have been creative with the true facts of slavery or even exaggerated the elements of it to stir emotional responses from the readers. This has resulted in the controversy of the historical accuracy of the novel and its depiction of the institution of slavery, with some arguing that it may not be a complete and accurate representation of the experiences of the enslaved people.
Literary critics posit that the novel had rather a limited impact to the slave codes and slave laws, there also have counter arguments regarding its immediate effect to legislative changes. While the book had without a doubt a significant influence on the mental state of society and raised people’s awareness about the horrors of slavery, some scholars think there was probably too much emphasis on its performance in getting the whole legal reform done. The critics argue that the legal precedents set by the novel were only limited, and the courts mostly upheld the existing legal system which continued to support slavery during that period.
6. Long term legacy
The history of the United States and literature will always remember Uncle Tom’s Cabin as one of the major books related to politics and the established social justice movements. The novel, written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852, became a central event in that equation of public consciousness concerning the slave trade and race affairs based in the USA. Stowe’s powerful depiction of the cruel nature of slavery and the humanity of the slaves made the people have a disagreement and controversy.
Doubtlessly, Harter became the outstanding instance of US and world literature due to her brilliant anti-slavery message and expressive environment. It was one of the reasons which led to the emergence of more and more people who supported abolition and this kind of people, stressing the fact that the slavery should be abolished. This book is frequently praised as the one that spurred the abolitionist movement and gave impetus to other novels that discussed social injustice.
The novel was an important phenomenon in American politics, which caused the anti-slavery movements to form and the national debate on slavery to be more intense. It went on to raise prominence on the northern and southern sides, something which was the engine that propelled the conflicts to the destructive Civil War. Socially, the book had pushed the topic of slavery to the centre of the nation’s agenda, becoming the driver of the change process.
The book also had a long-term impact on the social justice movements by making people aware of the inhumanity of slavery and campaigning for the rights of the people who were not considered as the equals in the society. This film brought home the Uprightness of the dehumanising practices of slavery and emphasised the immune system the slaves had to build in the course of suffering injustices. In modern conversations about race and slavery, the book remains an anchor that permits us to look to the past and see how these historical wrongs continue to hold austere sway in the present. The book’s themes of injustice, rebellion, and the search for freedom echo in the minds of the contemporary audience, thus making them think about the heritage of slavery and the everlasting struggle for racial equality.
7. Comparative analysis
To make comparison between the impact of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and other literary works concerning the issue of slavery and abolition, it is then vital to comprehend the novel’s particular traits and dimensions in closer relations and comparison with other abolitionist writings of its period.
This book has gained acclaim as a true masterpiece that moulded American society, especially, to the effect it was aroused against slavery and in forming people’s opinion on it. The novel by Stowe was dedicated to all the moral evils of slavery and it was centred around the themes of family separation, Christian love and the inhumanity of the slave trade. This novel’s emotional narrative and its depiction of slaves’ daily hardship, which was evident in the struggles that they faced, made it possible for it to attract a lot of attention and play a major role in the abolition movement.
The abolitionist literature was not the only one that made a significant contribution to the anti-slavery movement. Other abolitionist writings, such as Frederick Douglass’s narratives and William Lloyd Garrison’s editorials, also played a vital role in this process. The personal experiences of Douglass that he recounts in his narratives and powerful speeches became the voice of those who endured slavery, and they saw their dignity affirmed. Besides the publication of his paper The Liberator, Garrison severely took issue with slavery and through his articles in the newspapers argued for there should be complete abolition of slavery right then and there. Though the approach of Stowe in Uncle Tom’s Cabin was criticised for being too sentimental and romantic on slavery, her novel was able to reach a wide audience and thus started the critical conversations about race, justice, and humanity. Stowe’s strong moral tone towards the necessity to abolish slavery and her subtle approach in a storytelling way to create empathy and to start social reforms, distinguished her writing work from other abolition related reading materials of the period.
Method
The study on “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and the laws on slavery has deployed a methodological approach that is comprehensive. It uses the method of thematic analysis to investigate the role that slavery plays in the novel, its social and political effects. Historical study utilised the background of the novel and it’s meaning along with other aspects. The archival research was drawn from historical data that included legislative records to analyse the character of natural justice and the public perception. Textual interpretation helped to get a better understanding of the book’s themes and messages, as the book was released at a time when the social and political climate was turbulent. Observation tools are historical investigation, archival research, and interpretation of written sources. This detail enriches the study of novel and slavery laws as well as perception of society.
Suggestions
The research of Uncle Tom’s Cabin could go even further and explore the long-term impact of the book on American jurisprudence and social justice movements. Examining the impact that the themes and motives of the novel have shown in the precedence of law courts through court decisions and advancement of social movements over the years will be of valuable insight into the continuing effects of Stowe’s works on the legal system and society as a whole.
An interdisciplinary approach can be used to shed light on the relationship between literature, law, and activism in the context of the novel. Through the study of how the novel sparked the conversations on race, justice, and human rights, researchers will be able to find the intricate links between the literary works, legal frameworks, and social movements in the formation of societal attitudes and policies.
Conclusion
The impact of the influence of Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin on the slavery laws in the era of 19th century America reveals how the writing of her work had both a significant impact on the perception of the public and efforts of legal reform. The findings show the novel’s role in modifying anti-slavery feelings, the movement for abolition and the national conversation on slavery. As the reading caused a response at the legislative level at not only federal but also state levels, people talked more about the inhumane effects of slavery and the need for efforts of reform. The theme’s powerful historical significance is rooted in the fact that it makes the society learn about racial, social, and justice issues. This makes the lives of many non-whites’ identity less and colourless in America. Moreover, this develops discussions on race, justice, and literature that are quite relevant to society today. The study thus confirms the fact that the book was in the forefront of the abolitionist movement that sought to overturn the existing social norms, pave the way for change and continue the discourse on racial equality and social justice.
–Ananya Santhosh
Ramaiah College of Law (Bangalore)