Ralph Waldo Emerson, Harriet Beecher Stowe

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Harriet Beecher Stowe and John Greenleaf Whittier were authors that challenged the norms of their societies. All challenged a specific existing “establishment”. Stowe and Whittier wished to change the establishment of slavery while Emerson opposed state of organized religion. Those diverse in their methods, each author’s intent was to motivate social reform.

Emerson felt that the organized religion of the time was driven by men and not God. He felt that the churches of the time practiced man’s interpretation of God’s will. Emerson, on the other hand, felt that any knowledge of God and his messages could be learned in the study of science and that by using those lessons to become self-reliant, one would have a purer

Stowe introduces Tom, a slave, as a "good, steady, pious fellow " (B:808) However, the trader's words that "Some folks do not believe there is pious" (B:808) slaves clearly illustrate the accepted thought of society at the time. The treatment of Cassy illustrates these points as well with Cassy's prayer "O, great Almighty God! we are all sinners; but what have we done , more than all the rest of the world, that we should be treated so?" (B:901). To be unkind, in any way, to another human is in direct opposition of the Christian. Slaves were treated brutally and inhumanely. Lastly, the murder of Tom, is the most graphic depiction of Stowe's strategy. Legree is a man of the purest evil. He purposely kills Tom, for no apparent good reason. Because Tom was a pious man, he forgives Legree and the two men that beat him. He even begs the Lord to save Sambo and Quimbo. Harriet Beecher Stowe uses this strategy with a soft hand in the beginning and a hard one in the end, with each instance becoming harsher, more heartbreaking and more