Shelby Farm Slavery

Uncle Tom’s Cabin is a slavery novel written by Harriet Breecher Stowe. The book begins with Arthur Shelby, a “kind” slave owner and Tom’s master who resides in Kentucky. He is facing the loss of his farm because he has debts. Even though Mr. Shelby and his wife Emily have a close by connection with their slaves, Arthur decides to raise funds by selling two of his slaves which are Uncle Tom and Harry. Uncle Tom is a man with a wife and children, and he is about middle aged, and Harry, the son of Emily Shelby’s servant Eliza, are going to be sold to a slave trader. Emily is not okay with the idea of Harry being sold because she has promised

Another odd aspect which was displayed in chapter 1 of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, is the description of Eliza Harris, who is Mrs. Shelby’s maid. She is described as having, “Rich, full, dark eyes, with its long lashes; the same ripples of silky black hair. The brown of her complexion gave way on the cheek to a perceptible flush, which deepened as she saw the gaze of the strange man fixed upon her in bold and undisguised admiration. Her dress was of the neatest possible fit, and set off to advantage her finely moulded shape”. (Stowe, Harriet Beecher.) Unfortunately, many don’t imagine slaves being well groomed, and dressed neatly. It may be believed that Stowe is giving a false racial stereotype here and trying to paint a different image of what slavery was like.

Stowe expressed that the geographic region and birth could decide whether a person is slavery or not. She strongly suggested the geographic region in the paragraph which depicted how Eliza with her son Harry escaped. When Eliza decided to seek for happiness and freedom for her son and herself, Mrs. Shelby, her current master, kindly suggested her to run further north and migrated to Canada. Both Eliza’s husband and Mrs. Shelby believed that the northern region is a place of freedom and could offer some equal rights for slaves. Whereas, Stowe described southern region as a place full of bitterness. As Uncle Tom was sold further south, he encountered more inhuman violence and ideas from slavery. Legree, Uncle Tom’s third master, lived in the

But Tom real host is Mr. St. Clair. Tom's second master, the little girl Eva's father; Is a novel inside the most sympathetic slave owners. St. Clare is already aware of the sin of slavery, but have not yet to prepare for discarding it brings wealth. After the death of his daughter, he became more religious, and began to read the bible to Tom. However, his kindness is because nothing has resulted from his accidental death.

Stowe focuses on the story of a slave name Uncle Tom, who was sold down the river and brutalized by the planter whose name remains a synonym for cruelty and oppression, Simon Legree. Uncle Tom was a slave for the Shelby’s’, who were very nice to him and really cared about their slaves. Unfortunately, due to their financial circumstances they had to sell Uncle Tom to another man named Haley, who later sold him to a very oppressive master named Simon Legree. Tom experienced the “best” of slavery at the Shelby plantation, and suffered the “worst” at the Legree plantation. Even though Tom suffered a lot he never gave up, as stated in the book when he tells his master “if you was sick, or in trouble, or dying, and I could save ye, I’d give ye my heart’s blood” (Stowe, 464).

When Uncle Tom’s Cabin first starts, two men are introduced. One being Haley, the other being Mr. Shelby. Haley is described as a short fat man, who is far overdressed just for a meeting with Shelby. Mr. Shelby is only described as looking like a gentleman. The men are discussing a slave named Tom, who Shelby is looking to sell and Haley to buy. Tom is said to be an uncommon slave who is very honest, loyal, and has good Christian values. The way Shelby talks about Tom shows what a great relationship he has with his slaves. Also, the way Haley responds shows that he may be a very inconsiderate master.

Another odd aspect which was displayed in chapter 1 of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, is the description of Eliza Harris, who is Mrs. Shelby’s maid. She is described as, “Rich, full, dark eyes, with its long lashes; the same ripples of silky black hair. The brown of her complexion gave way on the cheek to a perceptible flush, which deepened as she saw the gaze of the strange man fixed upon her in bold and undisguised admiration. Her dress was of the neatest possible fit, and set off to advantage her finely moulded shape”. (Stowe, Harriet Beecher.) Many don’t imagine slaves being well groomed, and dressed neatly. It may be believed that Stowe is giving a false racial stereotype here.

In Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe uses the character of Augustine St. Clare to play a very important role in expressing her views of abolition to the reader throughout the novel. St. Clare is, in himself, a huge contradiction of a character, as his way of life is supported by the same system that he despises, slavery. St. Clare professes multiple times in the book that slavery is wrong, yet he holds slaves and refuses to release them, making him a hypocrite whose morals are right, mainly because of his mother, but he is unwilling to do the right thing. St. Clare symbolizes some of the southern slave owners at the time who knew that slavery was a sin and an act against God, but refused to stand up and stop it. St. Clare is such an essential character in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and he is an important part of the overall message of the novel and Stowe’s interjection of her abolitionist views that are throughout the novel.

In Uncle Tom’s Cabin Beecher Stowe persuades her audience that there is nothing that can justify slavery. Black women began to believe they stood at a lower status. Simon Legree, a character in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, was a potent slave owner. He owned a woman and a girl by the names of Cassy and Emmeline who he used as sex objects and personal entertainment. Simon was selfish and macho, making him disrespectful towards women, including his own mother.

In literature, the nature of a character’s villainy plays an important role in novels and play. These evil characters enhance the good in the other characters. In the novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” by Harriet Beecher Stowe, there are many acts of evil committed by multiple characters, but one that stands out in the novel is Simon Legree. Simon Legree is a vicious slave owner of Tom. He exhibits no remorse and cruelty.

As United States citizens take a jump back into reasonably recent history, it is guaranteed that one will find elements of slavery in the southern states. Slavery, something many people frown on in this day an age, looked a little different back some 150 years ago. This was a major part of the southern colonies’ government and wasn’t the sure cause of the American Civil War. Moreover, slavery is how their entire economy ran, with black people working on mega plantations, picking cotton, making clothing, and even watching children of young ages. The aspect of slavery wasn’t something that southerners looked upon with a disapproving eye; it was something that people needed to survive and make money off of. Slavery made their world go around,

Another place in the text where Stowe’s theme becomes clearer to readers in in chapter twenty when St. Clare exclaims, “That’s you Christians, all over!—you’ll get up a society and get some poor missionary to spend all his days among just such heathen. But let me see one of you that would take one into your house with you, and take the labor of their conversation on yourselves! No; when it comes to that, they are dirty and disagreeable, and it’s too much care, and so on (866).” St. Clare recognizes the evil of slavery himself but is afraid free his slaves in order to become a “Christian.” He is more than willing to point out all the problems

During this period, African-Americans were regarded as inferior beings, only capable of work and birthing children. Some slave-owner harbored no prejudices towards black slaves but participated in slave ownership because it was commonplace. In the novel, Master St. Clare and his sister Ophelia discussed their viewpoints about slavery. St. Clare admitted the sole reason he practiced slavery was due to the acceptance of slave ownership in American culture during that era. Although St. Clare was a slave owner, he did not discriminate against people of color. Ophelia was not a participant in slave ownership but she

Throughout the whole story, Tom studies and marks in his bible verses in which he finds the deepest meaning. While Tom was at Mr. Shelby’s after the work for the day was complete, Tom would go into the woods and preach to his fellow slaves while his wife, Aunt Chloe, cooked dinner. When Tom received news of his purchase by a slave trader, he placed his trust into God that this was the best thing for him(Chapter 5). After being purchased by St. Clare due to the persuasion of Eva, whom discovered Tom’s devout interest in the Bible. Together, Eva and Tom explored Christianity together, passing it along to numerous slaves on the farm. While George is being pursued by runaway slave hunters, he tells them, “We don’t own your laws; we don’t own your country; we stand here as free, under God’s sky, as you are; and, by the great God that made us, we’ll fight for our liberty until we die.”(Chapter 17). From this, Stowe reveals the point that black men and white men are both in this world together; and that blacks deserve the same right to freedom as whites do. Since Eva had been exposed to so many of the horrors of slavery and felt their suffering, she dedicated her death to the slaves on St. Clare’s farm. Early Eva expressed to her father how unjust slavery is and how the ideals he uses with her such as how he doesn’t her to suffer. Also Eva express how the slaves should be educated so they can know so much more(Chapter 24). People such as Eva realize that slaves has just as much potential to become educated and religious members of society if they were given the same

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a novel written in times of unrest where slavery was a controversial topic and women 's rights were still suffering. Uncle Tom’s Cabin showed the grim reality of slavery and showed the importance for women to gain a societal role beyond the domestic domain. The reading contains a number of major characters throughout the novel. The two most notable characters we will discuss is Mrs. Shelby and Marie St. Clare. Throughout this paper we will compare and contrast these two characters and give specific examples to illustrate the similarities and differences between these two unique individuals.