Uncle Tom's Cabin Analytical Essay

For slaves, the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 ensured their doom in the perpetual cruelty of the slave market. This Act protected the rights of slaveholders, requiring - by law - that all slaves who escaped to the North be returned to their original owners. This action by the United States government contributed significantly to the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. The novel was the first of its kind to express and fully embrace the idea that slavery should not be condoned. At the time this text was published, many Northerners took the pacifist approach by simply accepting the idea that “one person couldn’t change anything”, like St. Clare in the novel. Once this book was introduced to the Northern population, not only did it sell like hot cakes, but also it opened citizens’ eyes to the
I thought it was interesting how being a “white n----“ was something undesirable in the slave community. When a large slave comes up to Adolph and said "Law, now, boys! dis yer's one o' yer white n-----s, — kind o' cream color, ye know, scented!” The situation slaves were put them made them resent white people to such a degree that it was terrible to be a “white n-----“. It is ironic also that they themselves used the term “white” with the derogatory term “nigger” to insult someone n their own community. One might have thought – given the ability whites had to roam free and easily – that being white was a good thing. Of course, being called “white” had more to do with the fact that these slaves associated “white n----“ as a portrayal of their oppressor, and by calling one of their own a “white n - - - - “ they were lashing out at their oppressors and anyone who tried to emulate them. The idea of a “white n----“ also brings to mind how close these slaves are to their owners making the reader question “How different are these people that they can be considered property while I can be considered