Uncle Tom's Cabin: Harriet Beecher Stowe
This book is a classic because of the impact that it had on America during its time period and even now. This book was a turning point in African American history. It exposed the poor conditions that slaves were put under, and because of it, many people in the North changed their ideas on slavery. Without this book being published, who knows how long it would've taken someone to educate the public on the true story behind slavery, or if someone would've even exposed it at all. This book is a classic because it helped to shape the future.
In this book, the idea of exposing the flaws of slavery was definitely new. Various types of print had been written about slavery, but none of them had been totally truthful. Most were written to make slaves sound more like servants instead of telling about the punishments and horrible conditions that these African Americans had to live under. Another new aspect to this book would be the fact that the author was a woman. This was not unheard of during the slave era, but what was unheard of was the fact that this book became published. Women were not respected during this time period. Most thought that all they could do was take care of the home and the children in it.
People of the South were outraged when the book was published. They did not want the way they were treating these people to be known to the rest of the nation. They did not believe that what they were doing was wrong and wanted to stick with their cruel ways. Many southerners also tried to claim that all that Stowe published were lies, but the people of the North didn't buy it. These northerners were astonished to find out what was really going on in the South. This made even more people turn against slavery and many people's hatred toward the South grew even more.
This book captured the time period perfectly. It elaborated on and showed the truth about the issue that divided the nation during the time. It shared the struggles that African Americans went through daily and the hardships that one would have to go through in order to become free. This book paints a picture of the life of an African American slave that northern Americans had never seen before.
The author is sharing her abolitionist views. She exposes the poor conditions that slaves have to live under at the time that she wrote. With this, she is trying to sway her readers to think the same. By telling stories of a slave who is trying to become free via the Underground Railroad, the author is implicitly saying that southerners are treating their slaves in a way that is cruel and that there needs to be an end to slavery.
