Yet, as Hendrick writes, Harriet also transformed those feelings into an engine of social change; "pursuing the Calvinist injunction to 'improve the affliction' and reap 'the peaceable fruits of righteousness' in the wake of" her son Charley's death, and "stirred up the nation to an awareness of its sin." Harriet wrote to her brother Henry, "You see...how this subject has laid hold of me...The poor slave on whom the burden of domestic bereavement falls heaviest is precisely the creature of all Gods creatures that feels it deepest." hile there is no doubt that Harriet Beecher Stowe achieved political status by making a national audience see the subjectivity of African-Americans, however what she personally saw was filtered through a white woman's consciousness.
After the series ran in the abolitionist newspaper, the National Era, Uncle Tom's Cabin was published in book form in March 1852, and by mid-June 10,000 copies were being…...
mlaWorks Cited
Grant, David. 2000. Stowe's Dred and the Narrative Logic of Slavery's Extension.
Studies in American Fiction. 22 September. Available from Internet, HighBeam Research Library; accessed 12 October 2006.
Hamilton, Kendra. 2002. The strange career of Uncle Tom: on the 150th anniversary of the publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin, scholars reflect on the legacy of the groundbreaking novel and its author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Black Issues in Higher Education. 6 June. Available from Internet, HighBeam Research Library; accessed 12 October 2006.
Harriet Beecher Stowe: 1811-1896. A Celebration of Women Writers. Available from Internet, Accessed 12 October 2006.http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/stowe/StoweHB.html .
It is impossible to conceive of a greater mistake. Slaves sing most when they are most unhappy. The songs of the slave represent the sorrows of his heart; and he is relieved by them, only as an aching heart is relieved by its tears" (Douglass 15).
Douglass, unlike Uncle Tom or even Eliza, cannot help but wish to be free, because, he says, it is an integral part of his humanity. But in Stowe's novel, this urge for freedom is not present in the hearts of Uncle Tom, or in most of the African-American characters. They manifest a hunger for God, and God is shown to frown upon the splitting of families. But the fact that so many slaves risked life and limb to be free, and did not show any sign of the feelings of 'owing' their masters portrayed in the novel, demonstrates how even the author who 'started…...
mlaWorks Cited
Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. University of Virginia e-text.
December 2, 2010. http://etext.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/DouNarr.html
"The history." Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site. December 2, 2010
It is entirely through such efforts that the larger impact of the novel is made.
One scene in particular is meant as an especially compelling emotional allegory, and is very effective at making the undeniable and intimate nature of human feelings as a basis for moral decisions-making abundantly clear. When Mrs. Bird catches her two sons tormenting defenseless kittens, she berates them and ultimately succumbs to tears at the plight and pain of the cats and, perhaps even more so, at the cruelty of her own children. It seems to be in man's nature -- and specifically in man's nature as opposed to woman's -- to practice cruelty, yet even the practitioners can usually be made to recognize that their cruelty is wrong simply by dint of being cruel, and for no other logical or deduced reason. Their mother's tears more than her stern admonitions cause the boys to understand…...
mlaReferences
Ammons, Elizabeth. "Heroines in Uncle Tom's Cabin." American Literature 49.2 (1977): 161-179.
Brown, Gillian. "Getting in the Kitchen with Dinah: Domestic Politics in Uncle Tom's Cabin." American Quarterly 36.4 (1984): 503-523.
Camfield, Gregg. "The Moral Aesthetics of Sentimentality: A Missing Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin." Nineteenth-Century Literature 43.3 (1988): 319-345.
Noble, Marianne. "The ecstasies of sentimental wounding in Uncle Tom's cabin." The Yale journal of criticism 10.2 (1997): 295-320.
Palmetto Leaves and Egalitarianism
Harriet Beecher Stowe has a historical link to the politics of slavery. hrough her regionalist work Palmetto Leaves she gives an artful yet impassioned plea for the education and equality of freedmen.
In the work she examines life and state-building in Florida. Her personal style of describing events and purpose through the everyday events of her surroundings come out in the book. Stowe preaches an early minimalist ideal of taking personal and collective responsibility for ones life, surroundings and desires are also expressed.
Stowe foreshadows her topic of interest, the fair treatment of freed slaves, in the first chapter with her plea for the welfare of a desperate stray dog. Using the language of the Bill of Rights she expresses not knowing if the poor stray dog from the steamer wanders with, "...no rights to life, liberty or the pursuit of happiness." (Stowe, p. 10) With this sentiment and…...
mlaThe things that Stowe leaves out are those more modern ideas of a true egalitarian state where these Negro men were not judged as if they were children just leaving preschool and setting out for the first time on their walk home, though a different tone would be hard to find in this time. To many people Stowe's attitude was progressive for even judging the men as human. Stowe's work fits into the time as continued segregation leaves blacks and whites, especially those who are wealthy enough to own winter homes separate from one another and very unlikely to learn any intimate details about the lives of the other.
Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Palmetto Leaves. Boston, James R. Osgood & Co. 1873. Florida
Heritage Collection. 02 May 2003. http://fulltext.fcla.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=fhp&idno=NF00000034&format=pdf .
Uncle Tom
Although President Lincoln might have overstated the importance of Uncle Tom's Cabin as being a singular cause for the war, the statement does capture the fact that literature serves as a reflection for social values and norms. Abolitionism did become a major political force in the antebellum years, which is why Lincoln and the Union were willing to wage war for so many years and sacrifice so many lives. Of course, there were economic motives for the war (Tindall). Unionists were still mostly whites with racist beliefs, and their impetus for fighting was based as much on the need to retain access to Southern wealth and resources. Abolitionist views provided a convenient political foundation for the policies shaping Union efforts to prevent Southern cession. Read as a representation of abolitionism, Uncle Tom's Cabin serves almost as a piece of political propaganda.
"The little woman who wrote the book that started…...
mlaWorks Cited
Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Uncle Tom's Cabin. Retrieved online: http://web.archive.org/web/20080913231136/
net to acquire background information on the infamous Astor Place Riots in the early 19th Century. B. Do the same with Harriet Beecher Stowe and Uncle Tom's Cabin. C. Read the play, Uncle Tom's Cabin. The Astor Place Riots: hat happened? (Approximately one page) In what respects was the Astor Place Riots a continuation of the themes found in the play, The Contrast? (Approximately one page) Uncle Tom's Cabin: Discuss two themes in the play. Also, do you find the play still relevant? Did it move you? (Approximately two pages)
The Astor Place riots: hat happened?
The Astor Place riots were a result of the professional rivalry between two great tragedians, that of the American actor Edwin Forrest vs. The Englishman illiam Charles Macready. The two actors had offered the theater-going public of New York their contrasting interpretations of Hamlet, and when both actors were scheduled to play Macbeth on the…...
mlaWorks Cited
The Contrast. The Metropolitan Playhouse. 2011. [23 May 2012]
http://www.metropolitanplayhouse.org/contrastessay
Turney, Wayne. "The Astor Place Riots." A Glimpse of Theater History. [23 May 2012]
Sentimental vs. Realistic Techniques: Modern African-American Questions Addressed in Contemporary and 19th Century American Fiction
Despite critical caveats about literary quality, the use of sentimental techniques in novels that attempt to precipitate social change are ultimately more persuasive than the use of modernist techniques in similarly motivated social activist novels. Therefore, sentimental strategies that encourage readers to identify with idealized characters and familiar, even formulaic plots allow sentimental novels to act as more popularly persuasive vehicles for social change than modernist novels that deploy realistic techniques through less obvious strategies of identifying with protagonists and which present more morally complex scenarios.
One of the greatest strengths of the sentimental novel is its ability to elicit empathy. Although a literary critic may blanch and the use of such devices as stock characters and idealized moral scenarios in sentimental novels, as deployed most vividly in such works as Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher…...
mlaWorks Cited
Faucet, Jessie Redmon. Plum Bun. Boston: Beacon Press, 1999.
Larsen, Nella. Passing. New York: Anchor Books, 2001.
Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Uncle Tom's Cabin. 1852. Complete e-text available at The University of Virginia. [18 Jun 2005]http://www.iath.virginia.edu/utc/uncletom/utfihbsa11t.html
In the cinema, women were often sexual, powerful vamps and flappers, portrayed by actresses like Louise Brooks and Clara Bow. Flappers cut off their long hair and shed their long skirts for a more athletic and empowered appearance. However, although the flapper was culturally significant in terms of her image and power, her time in the limelight was relatively brief. Born of the prosperity of the Roaring 20s, during the Great Depression, women faced more sober circumstances. Still, many women continued to work, often because they were now the primary breadwinners for impoverished households. But working away from the home and female independence was less idealized. Films such as The Gold Diggers of 1933 showed women looking to marriage as a way of relieving their economic despair.
Katherine Hepburn: The Next New oman
hile some of the stars to emerge during the 1930s were decorous and feminine, others, such as Katherine Hepburn,…...
mlaWorks Cited
Adam's Rib. Directed by George Cukor. 1949.
Ali, Atka. "Lesson 10: Separate Spheres. " Women's history." July 12, 2010.
http://students.depaul.edu/~aali/lesson10.html
The Gold Diggers of 1933. Directed by Mervyn LeRoy. 1933
She was outraged watching the slave actions etc. that were taking place. She was from one of the most prestigious families in the nineteenth century in America. The document was created in 1852. The author is affected by historical context because slavery was prevalent at the time. Stress between the north and the south was obvious. The platform had been set for the document that she created. The document was created within the period of the reported events. Therefore, it was a fresh perspective of a current event. This document was created form everyone in my opinion. This documents purpose was to give an account and gives everyone a chance to view the situation from another perspective. Yes, the document was prepared for public distribution, the book sold over a million within a year of being published. This book was a recant of the situation that was going on…...
Voice & Identity in "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass"
This essay discusses the book NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS, AN AMERICAN SLAVE: WRITTEN BY HIMSELF, by Frederick Douglass, John W. Blassingame, John R. McKivigan (Editor) and Peter P. Hinks (Yale University, 2001).
Frederick Douglass was an early-19th century American slave who escaped the South and found freedom in the North. Seven years after his escape, Douglass published "Narratives of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave," his story of his life under the brutal system of American slavery, as well as his ability to prevail under and escape such difficult circumstances. It has become an American classic.
Narrative of the Life," published in 1845, was the first book of Douglass' writing and journalism career. He went on from "Narratives" to become an accomplished speaker and journalist, arguing passionately for the abolition of slavery, and describing in detail the…...
black women contribute to the early abolitionist movement? hat types of restrictions did women (both white and black) face in American society at this point? hy did more people at this point accept the idea of freeing blacks than giving women equal rights and opportunity?
American women, black and white, were prohibited from voting in both the antebellum Northern and Southern states. Yet African-American women still played a prominent role in the early abolitionist movement. The most famous such participant is of course Sojourner Truth, a freed slave who protested, 'ain't I a woman,' after listing the many ways she had been denied the traditional middle-class comforts extended to white females, and still survived, despite being a member of the supposedly weaker sex. However, even before emancipation, many black women were participants in the abolitionist movement.
Often these women were liberated escaped slaves such as Harriet Jacobs, who told her story…...
mlaWorks Cited
"The Influence of Prominent Abolitionists: The African-American Mosaic." The Black Mosaic Library of Congress Website. 2005.
"African-American History." Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia. 2005
Jacobs, Harriet. "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl." University of Virginia Website. Last update 14 Feb 2004.
omen to History
omen have contributed to the history of the world from the beginning of time. Their stories are found in legends, myths, and history books. Queens, martyrs, saints, and female warriors, usually referred to as Amazon omen, writers, artists, and political and social heroes dot our human history. By 1865, women moved into the public arena, as moral reform became the business of women, as they fought for immigrant settlement housing, fought and struggled for the right to earn living wages, and stood up to the threats of the lynch mobs. The years beginning in 1865 is known as the Civil ar era and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. It was a time of great changes, especially for African-American women such as Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth. omen of all races had to fight for equal rights, even the right to vote (http://women.eb.com/women/nineteenth09.html).omenhave indeed 'come a long…...
mlaWorks Cited
Women in American History. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. http://women.eb.com/women/crossroads05.html. http://women.eb.com/women/crossroads12.html. http://women.eb.com/women/modernamerica06.html. http://women.eb.com/women/modernamerica02.html.http://women.eb.com/women/nineteenth09.html.
A accessed 07-04-2002).
Bryson, Donna. "MOTHER TERESA LED LIFE OF HARD WORK AND LOVE DIMINUTIVE NUN NEVER WAVERED FROM HER SELF-IMPOSED MISSION TO BRING COMFORT TO THE WORLD." Denver Rocky Mountain News. September 14, 1997, pp 3A. http://ask.elibrary.com/getdoc.asp?pubname=Denver_Rocky_Mountain_News&puburl=http~C~~S~~S~InsideDenver.com~S~&querydocid=:bigchalk:U.S.;Lib&dtype=0~0&dinst=0&author=Donna+Bryson&title=MOTHER+TERESA+LED+LIFE+OF+HARD+WORK+AND+LOVE+DIMINUTIVE+NUN+NEVER+WAVERED+FROM+HER+SELF%2DIMPOSED+MISSION+TO+BRING+COMFORT+TO+THE+WORLD++&date=09%2D14%2D1997&query=+Mother+Teresa&maxdoc=90&idx=7.(accessed07-04-2002).
Lloyd, Marion. "Nun's Sainthood effort moves fast; Callers report miracles of Mother Teresa." The Washington Times. August 28, 1999, pp A6. accessed 07-04-2002).http://ask.elibrary.com/getdoc.asp?pubname=The_Washington_Times&puburl=http~C~~S~~S~www.washtimes.com&querydocid=:bigchalk:U.S.;Lib&dtype=0~0&dinst=0&author=Marion+Lloyd&title=Nun%27s+sainthood+effort+moves+fast%3B+Callers+report+miracles+of+Mother+Teresa++&date=08%2D28%2D1999&query=+Mother+Teresa&maxdoc=90&idx=6
" Steinbeck's novel was written in a much different style, much more modern, and so it is easier for modern readers to relate to it. Each of the novels places the characters in poor situations, so they all compare to each other in this regard. The reader becomes sympathetic to them because of their plight, and they want them to win. Unfortunately, because of society at the time, for most of the characters, that is not possible. Steinbeck's account of the Joads leaves them in a terrible situation by the end of the book, yet they somehow remain hopeful. Steinbeck is looking at the American people as a whole, and how, when the times are the worst, they still hang on to hope.
As for social impetus, the books did spark change. "The Jungle" actually helped form the first department in Washington to deal with food safety, the Federal Department of…...
mlaReferences
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin Books, 2002.
Even "Porter Alexander, Lee's ordnance chief and one of the most perceptive contemporary observers of Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia, called his decision to stand at Antietam 'the greatest military blunder that Gen. Lee ever made'" (Owens 2004). Historians are divided as to the real purpose behind the Maryland campaign, which seems like an "isolated maneuver, another manifestation of Lee's innate aggressiveness as a commander. Some have gone so far as to suggest that Lee's forays into Union territory were undertaken primarily to maintain his claim on scarce Confederate resources that might have been used to greater strategic purpose in the est" (Owens 2004).
hether a demoralization strategy or an effort merely to show Confederate aggression, the focus on Lee in most historians' analysis shows how Lee dominated this conflict, and defined the terms of the battle. Thus, even if Lee acted unwisely, he was clearly 'in control,'…...
mlaWorks Cited
The beginning of the American Civil War. (2009). BBC. Retrieved February 22, 2009. http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A3245140
Bleeding Kansas 1853-1861. (2009). Africans in America. PBS. Retrieved February 22, 2009. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2952.html
Faust, Patricia. (2005, March 26). The Anaconda Plan. Historical Times Encyclopedia of the Civil War. Retrieved from Strategy and Tactics: Civil War Home on February 22, 2005 at http://www.civilwarhome.com/anacondaplan.htm
Owens, Mackubin T. (2004, September). September 17, 1862: High tide of the Confederacy?
Indeed, in retrospect, my personal issues, no matter how stringent they might have been, should not have stayed in the way of exercising my common sense in the relationship with the rest of the individuals.
From this perspective, it is most likely that I should have followed what the son of the writer Harriet Beecher Stowe, C.E. Stowe said in relation to common sense, that "common sense is the knack of seeing things as they are, and doing things as they ought to be done." (ThinkExist.com Quotations, 2006) Therefore, I now come to realize that it is of little importance the actual personal problems we are faced everyday because the people around us, and especially our friends, have no blame in them and acting foolishly towards them would not improve or create a result to our own issues. On the contrary even, when we tend to act without using our…...
mlaReferences
Merriam Webster. (2007). Common Sense. Retrieved June 4, 2007, at http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/common+sense
Online Dictionary. (2007) Commonsense. Retrieved June 4, 2007, at http://onlinedictionary.datasegment.com/word/common+sense
ThinkExist.com Quotations. (2006). Commonsense quotations. Retrieved June 4, 2007, at http://thinkexist.com/quotation/common_sense_is_the_knack_of_seeing_things_as/145812.html
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