Who Is Harriet Beecher Stowe Symbolize Slavery In America?

The novel was successful in pushing the country further toward abolishing slavery, through showing the hypocrisy of a “Christian” country, with Christianity. Using this progressive form of Christianity into a religion of resistance, against the status quo at the time(lecture1). When the novel was released in 1852, the country already split between the southern slave states and the free states of the north. What Harriet Beecher Stowe did was bring the hypocrisy and horrors of slavery into the living rooms of the white northern citizens and all across the nation. Many other works argued the same issues as her, while others argued against her point on where Christianity stood on slavery. Stowe was able to point out the natural contradicts with

In a conversation with a former employer of George’s, George says that to quote the bible verses that condone slavery makes someone in his position want to give up the religion all together and that he would go to God himself and ask why is it wrong to seek his freedom, in such a horrible system(UT66). Showing again that the system of slavery within America pushed, the people in the position of the oppressed, to want to get away from a religion that supported the practice.

Throughout the book, Stowe continues to reference slavery as a sin that Gods against the way of God. In the being of the story, Mrs. Shelby, the wife of Tom’s First owner says,

“This is God’s curse on slavery! A most bitter, bitter, most accursed thing! A curse to the master and a curse to the slave…It is a sin to hold a slave under laws like ours…”(UT21).

At another point, Tom is threatened with being beat and killed by his new cruel master, if he does not give information on a runaway slave. Tom tells his master that if he does what he says he will do to Tom he will leave a stain on his soul that will stay with him for eternity(UT245). These thoughts about Christianity are echoed by other abolitionist at the time, who also said slavery was a sin(217). A Quaker by the name of Angelina Grimke, went as far as to say that “Slavery is a crime against God and

The author uses the idea of Canaanites to push across the hypocrisy of the south. During the time of this story, the myth that the African race was descended from the Ham, the son of Noah, that was cursed by his father. Ham’s descendants moved through Canaan and into Africa and would become the African people(pp). Religious organizations and slaveholders in the South used this myth in order to justify the practice of slavery(pp). In the book, it is shown that the slaves at that time believed the story and it is shown when Uncle Tom sings about returning to the shores of Canaan(UT165). Making the case that African American people are as much people of God as Caucasian Americans. During a scene in a bar, a young man talks about how the scripture says to do onto others what you would want other to do onto you, as well as the Curse of Canaan(UT74). Which also coincides with a portion of the conversation the runaway slave George was having with his former employer about escaping from slavery. During the conversation, George ask the man if Indians were to come and take him away from his family and turned him into a slave would he not try to runaway the first chance he gets(UT66). The man says nothing because it is quite obvious that he would try and