Stereotypes Then and Now Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote "Uncle Tom’s Cabin" in 1850 right after the Emancipation was declared and the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act. The Fugitive Slave Act stated that it is a federal crime to aid fugitive slaves. Harriet was on an abolitionist tract with very little knowledge of slaves and how they have been treated. Even though she had little knowledge she wrote an amazingly detailed story about a slave who decides to run away. The author of "Uncle Tom’s Cabin" lived in a society that viewed people differently than in today’s society. This story consist of many different stereotypes including African America slaves, women, and religion. Foremost slaves were treated and looked upon as property by most of their owners. Slave owners also looked upon …show more content…
White men consider themselves more religious than African American slaves until Mrs. Bird stands up to her husband and corrects him. "'You ought to be ashamed, John! Poor, homeless, houseless creatures! It's a shameful, wicked, abominable law, and I'll break it, for one, the first time I get a chance; and I hope I shall have a chance, I do! Things have got to a pretty pass, if a woman can't give a warm supper and a bed to poor, starving creatures, just because they are slaves, and have been abused and oppressed all their lives, poor things!'"(Stowe 792). The people in this story didn’t believe that African American people had the same God as they did. The religious people of today’s society believe that all people no matter their race can serve the same God and have the same results. In conclusion "Uncle Tom’s Cabin" open the minds and hearts of many people before, during, and in today’s society. The story has many symbolizes and stereotypes about African American slaves, women and christiany. In today’s society people believe that no one should be treated different depending on their race, sex, or