Katherine Wang 4/24/13 Period 6 Uncle Toms Cabin and The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: Social

and Cultural Context and the Impact on the Abolitionist Theme No compromise with slavery! No union with slaveholders! concluded the preface written by William Lloyd Garrison in The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (12), a statement symbolizing the motives of the abolitionist movement gripping the United States in opposition to the nations legalized slavery. Harriet Beecher Stowe was considered a celebrity during her time for her publication of Uncle Toms Cabin in 1852(Ockerbloom), a fictional novel highlighting the struggles of slaves in hopes it would bring to light the heartlessness of slavery. Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave himself, was a leading spokesperson for abolitionism and racial equality (Frederick) who documented his experiences through his own autobiography that he published in 1845. The resulting works of literature from the two distinct authors significantly helped promote abolitionism in 19th century America. The different social and cultural contexts of the authors backgrounds affected the portrayal of the abolitionist theme within Uncle Toms Cabin and The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. In the development of their works, Harriet Beecher Stowe accumulated inspiration to create her novel through secondhand experience and stories, while Frederick Douglass experienced slavery firsthand as a slave. Their perspectives were impacted by their race and geography during the time. Stowe witnessed slavery in her home state of Kentucky and heard accounts by escaped slaves ("People"), while Douglass was a slave who experienced the extreme southern whippings and starvation that [broke him] in body, soul, and spirit ("Frederick"). In Stowes Uncle Toms Cabin, most of her characters undergo a relatively mild type of slavery in which cruelty is rarely experienced. When Tom does join a southern plantation devoid of Christianity and governedby a sort of resolution of forces (392), beatings are mentioned of

Katherine Wang 4/24/13 Period 6 but not described. In The Narrative, Douglas explains the cruelty in detail, vividly describing a severe whipping that [cut his] back, causing the blood to run, and raising ridges on [his] flesh as large as [his] little finger (69). Because of their differing experiences with slavery, the depiction of the wrongs of slavery is written in different attentions to detail. While this aspect is present in both narratives, it is ultimately used in different ways to support their abolitionist themes. One of the other most prominent messages expressed in both narratives is the justification of abolitionism and the condemnation of slavery through religion. 19th century American society was heavily influenced by religion, and holy work through careers in church became the most effective way to influence society (Harriet 1). According to Harriet Beecher Stowes letter to Frederick Douglass, the upbringing by a devoutly Christian family (especially her father, the famous Reverend Lyman Beecher) influenced her abolitionist ideals and greatly affected her ideas. She states, One of the strongest & deepest impressions on my mind were my fathers sermons & prayerswhich impressed my heart & made me what I am from my soul the enemy of slavery (2). In Uncle Toms Cabin, Stowe relates religion with the slavery through the character of Mrs. Bird, who states, I can read my Bible; and there I see that I must feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and comfort the desolate in response to Fugitive Slave Act-like bill passed in her state (93). In order to reason with her readers, Stowe uses the idea that slavery contradicts religion in order to support her abolitionism theme. Although Douglass was not as influenced by religion throughout his life, he similarly connects slavery to religion. Douglass accuses Southern slaveholders to adhere to a corrupted Christianity or a slaveholding religion in which he states, I am filled with unutterable loathing when I contemplate the religious pomp and showwhich every where surround me. We have men-stealers for ministers, womenwhippers for missionaries, and cradle-plunderers for church members. Although the two authors

Katherine Wang 4/24/13 Period 6 have dissimilar religious backgrounds, Stowe and Douglass both utilize the idea that religion disagrees with slavery to support their themes. Both narratives also detail the accounts of slave women and the immoral treatment they endured through slavery. Stowe sympathized with slave women who were separated with their children due to her experience of losing one of her own sons. In a letter written by her to a friend, she remarked, It was at his dying bed and at his grave that I learned what a poor slave mother may feel when her child is torn away from her (People). In Uncle Toms Cabin, Stowe depicts the terrible, inhumane sufferings slave women have tolerated through the characters of Prue and Cassy, slave mothers who have lost children due to the cruelty of slavery. Douglass also expresses the unnaturalness of enslaved women by only depicting them as defiled or abused throughout his autobriography. Slaves such as Aunt Hester, who was brutally whipped for being absent for a night (Douglass 23), and Mary, whose head, neck, and shoulderswere literally cut to pieces (48-49) are the most prominent female characters who are never developed but act as symbols of brutality. Both authors sympathize with slave women and detail their pain through their narratives, adding to the theme of abolitionism through the support of the extensive torment the female slaves face. While both authors wrote influential books of the abolitionist movement and 19th century America, the distinct social and cultural context they originated and drew inspiration from greatly affected their written stories and expression of the anti-slavery theme. Harriet Beecher Stowes religious and northern background was unlike Frederick Douglass southern background and firsthand slavery experience, but both authors shared similar resentment toward slavery and expressed their abolitionist views through the two most influential narratives of the 19th century and American history overall.

Katherine Wang 4/24/13 Period 6

Works Cited Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave. 1845. New York: New American Library, 1968. Print. "Frederick Douglass." Africans in America. WGBH Educational Foundation, n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2013. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p1539.html>. Fremarjo Enterprises Inc. "A Short Biography of Frederick Douglass." Biography of Frederick Douglass. Fremarjo Enterprises, 2011. Web. 28 Apr. 2013. <http://www.frederickdouglass.org/douglass_bio.html>. "Harriet Beecher Stowe's Life." Harriet Beecher Stowe Center. Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2013. <http://www.harrietbeecherstowecenter.org/hbs/>. Ockerbloom, Mary Mark, ed. "Harriet Beecher Stowe: 1811-1896." A Celebration of Women Writers. Ed. Mary Mark Ockerbloom. University of Pennsylvania, n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2013. <http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/stowe/StoweHB.html>. "People & Ideas: Harriet Beecher Stowe." God in America. WGBH Educational Foundation, n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2013. <http://www.pbs.org/godinamerica/people/harriet-beecherstowe.html>. Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Letter to Frederick Douglass. 1851. The Harriet Beecher Stowe Center Library. Harriet Beecher Stowe Center. Web. 28 Apr. 2013. <http://www.harrietbeecherstowecenter.org/stowedocuments/Letter_from_Harriet_Beech er_Stowe_to_Frederick_Douglass.pdf>. - - -. Uncle Tom's Cabin. 1852. New York: New American Library, 1966. Print.