American Literature

Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)

Women

This collection uses primary sources to explore Harriet Beecher Stowe&#39;s Uncle Tom&#39;s Cabin.

Teaching Guide: Exploring *Uncle Tom’s Cabin*

An illustration of a slave auction created by Theodore R. Davis in 1865.

An 1864 carte de visite, a type of small photograph frequently exchanged and sold during the war, depicting so-called white slaves.

“The Scourged Back,” a carte de visite depicting a slave who was severely whipped, 1863.

An illustration of Topsy and Eva, two of the novel’s characters with the greatest cultural impact.

An 1897 illustration of Uncle Tom and Simon Legree.

A photograph of Harriet Beecher Stowe, circa 1860.

An excerpt from a 1838 sermon against slavery by Lyman Beecher, father of Harriet Beecher Stowe.

A broadside announcing the 1850 passage of the Fugitive Slave Bill.

An 1852 review of *Uncle Tom’s Cabin* in *Fraser’s Magazine*.

The printed announcement of a theatrical performance of *Uncle Tom’s Cabin* at Methodist Episcopal Church in Hudson, New Hampshire in 1879. 

A photograph of actors in blackface for an 1896 minstrel show in Mercur, Utah.

A 1936 illustration depicting Europe as Eliza from *Uncle Tom's Cabin* crossing the ice floes of crises that led to World War II.

Resources

1. [*Uncle Tom’s Cabin*](http://dp.la/item/7709e9556bb0de7db7a7c9efb8f47e5f) by Harriet Beecher Stowe, HathiTrust, Digital Public Library of America. 

2. [Slave narratives and Uncle Tom's Cabin](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2958.html), PBS. 

3. [Uncle Tom’s Cabin](https://www.harrietbeecherstowecenter.org/utc/), the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center. 

4. [Uncle Tom’s Cabin and American Culture](http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/), the University of Virginia. 


Overview

*Uncle Tom’s Cabin* caused an uproar when it was published in 1852 and it has sparked controversy ever since. Abraham Lincoln is said to have called the author, Harriet Beecher Stowe, “the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war.” The novel was hugely popular and everyone had an opinion about its depiction of slavery. Many Northern readers saw the novel as revealing the horrors of the “peculiar institution,” and abolitionists characterized it as a gift from God. In the South, *Uncle Tom’s Cabin* generated outrage; slave owners criticized it as hyperbolic and untruthful. Stowe, daughter of the famous Congregational minister Lyman Beecher, achieved her goal, to write a work of fiction protesting slavery. However, *Uncle Tom's Cabin* also addresses women’s roles and Christian themes. Stowe wrote many other works during her lifetime, but she is best remembered for *Uncle Tom’s Cabin*. The story’s popularity continued for decades, generating stage shows and “Tom shows” that combined basic elements of Stowe’s novel with the blackface minstrel tradition.


English

*Uncle Tom's Cabin* by Harriet Beecher Stowe

uncle-toms-cabin-harriet-beecher-stowe_11_15baf3c996ad2da502edd1f00546d96f.jpg

Courtesy of Utah State Historical Society via Mountain West Digital Library.

“Mercur, Utah-Life and Customs p.5,” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/f4ac76b36e3bad939d53de1c01a400e8.

A photograph of actors in blackface for an 1896 minstrel show in Mercur, Utah.

Cite this item

Tips for Students

Item 11 of 12 in the Primary Source Set Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe