FREE ESSAY ON UNLCE TOMS CABIN

UNLCE TOMS CABIN

Justin Ross
Per.5 
12/20/00
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Author:Harriet Beecher
Title:Uncle Toms Cabin
Number of Pages: 250
Characters:
The main characters in this story are Uncle Tom, Eliza and George Harris. Uncle Tom is a
pious, trustworthy, slave. He never wrongs anyone and always obeys his master. A very
spiritual person, Uncle Tom tries his best to obey the Bible and to do what is right.
Eliza is a beautiful slave owned by George Shelby, Sr., the same person who initially
owns Tom. Eliza has a son, Harry. Eliza's husband, George Harris, lives on a nearby
plantation. George is a brilliant man, and invented a machine that was used in the
factory he works in. His owner became jealous and demoted George from his factory job to
doing hard labor on the plantation. 
Setting:
This story takes place throughout the states of Kentucky and Mississippi in the year 1891
in the Plantations and fields and workshops are were the slaves work mostly in sunny and
good working conditions.
Chapters 1-5
Because his Kentucky plantation was overwhelmed by debt, George Shelby, Sr. makes plans
to trade some slaves to a slave dealer named Haley in exchange for debts being canceled.
The dealer selects Uncle Tom as payment for the debt. While the two are discussing the
possible transaction, Eliza's son, Harry, comes rushing into the room. Haley decides he
wants to take Harry also, but Shelby refuses to part with the child. Eliza, overhearing
part of the conversation, is frightened and confides her fears to her husband, George
Harris. The fact that George's owner is mistreating him, combined with a possible sale of
his son persuades George to begin planning to run away. After inferring from an overheard
conversation between Mr. & Mrs. Shelby that they are indeed going to sell Harry and Uncle
Tom, Eliza warns Tom and she runs away.
Chapters 6-15
Eliza is able to cross the Ohio River and get to a safe place before Haley's two hired
slave-catchers can catch up with her. Although he was warned, Uncle Tom stays on the
plantation, leaving it up to God to protect him. At the same time, George Harris begins
his escape. Disguised as a Spaniard, George takes his time finding a route on the
underground railroad. He just happens to go to the same place where Eliza and Harry are
being hidden. The family is finally united at a Quaker Settlement.
Uncle Tom, meanwhile, is on a boat en route to New Orleans. After gallantly saving the
life of young Eva St. Clare, he is rewarded by being bought by her father, Augustine.
Augustine is married to a selfish woman who claims to be sick and takes no interest in
her daughter. So it is on his return trip from Maine where he has picked up his cousin
Ophelia who will care for Eva that Augustine buys Tom. 
Chapters 16-30
Unused to Southern customs and slavery, Ophelia tries to bring order to the St. Claire
plantation, but the pampered slaves do not cooperate. Eva, who has always been frail, was
dying and asks her father to free his slaves. After her death, Augustine was making plans
to free the slaves when he was killed while breaking up a fight. Mrs. St. Clare had no
intentions of freeing any slaves and had Uncle Tom sold at an auction to a brutal
plantation owner named Simon Legree. 
Chapters 31-40
For weeks, Uncle Tom tries in vain to please his new master. Legree has enough of Tom's
goodheartedness after Tom was ordered to beat another female slave and refused. For this
show of abstinence, Tom was beaten until he fainted. A slave woman named Cassy helps
treat Tom's wounds and afterwards went to Legree's apartment to torment him. Legree is
superstitious and believes that Cassy would cast an evil spell on him, and as a result,
he was afraid of her. Haunted by her and his guilty secrets, Legree drinks until he falls
asleep. Soon, Cassy along with another slave, Emmeline, run away from the plantation.
Convinced that Tom knows something about it, Legree again has him beat until he can't
speak or stand.
Chapters 41-45
Two days later, George Shelby, Jr. arrives at Legree's plantation to buy Tom back, but it
is too late. Uncle Tom is dying, and at his death, Shelby Jr. determines to free all his
slaves. He then helps Cassy and Emmeline escape. Later, on a river boat headed north,
they meet Madame de Thoux whom they find out is George Harris' sister. Upon discussing
this, they also discover that Cassy is Eliza's mother. The two women go to Canada where
Eliza, George and Harry had settled. Finally, the family is united.
Uncle Tom's Cabin helped to turn the tide of public opinion against slavery in the 19th
century. 
After View:
This controversial novel was initially written to question slavery and to convince people
of its wrongness. It was the first book that brought the problem of Negro slavery in
America to the attention of the world. It became not only a bestseller, but a social
documentary of the lives of slaves.
While living in Ohio just across the river from slave holding Kentucky, Harriet Beecher
Stowe had a first hand view of terrified runaway slaves and cruel bounty hunters. After
moving back to New England, she decided to write a book about what she had seen. At one
point she said, My heart was bursting with the anguish excited by the cruelty and
injustice our nation was showing to the slave, and praying God to let me do a little and
cause my cry for them to be heard.1 Mrs. Stowe's cry was heard very loudly in her book
that criticized slavery and counted slavery as a national sin. She hoped her novel would
bring slavery to a quick and peaceful end, however it only increased northern hostility
towards the South. 
Ten Questions:
Q: Where does the story take place.
A: In Missippi and Kentucky
Q: When does the story take place
A: It takes place in later part of the 19th century, when slavery was beginning
Q: Who is the main characters in Uncle Toms Cabin
A: Uncle Tom, and Eliza and George Harris
Q: What happens at the end of the book
A: Shelby, Jr. arrives at Legree's plantation to buy Tom back, but it is too late.Tom is
dying, and then when he dies Shelby Jr. determines to free all his slaves. and helps some
other slaves get to freedom.
Q: Where is the Plantation located
A: The Plantation is located in Kentucky it is about 200 acres of farm land
Q: Where does Tom and Eliza run away to 
A: They run away to the Ohio river and go under the Under Ground Rail Road and Hide
Out in a Quaker Estate.
Q:Who is the story based on?
A:It is Based on the slave Tom and him trying to get to freedom
Q:Who does uncle tom get sold to ?
A:To a mean Slave Owner named Simon Legree.