I cannot believe how long it has taken me to get around to reading Uncle Tom's Cabin. If I would have had an inkling of how well-written and emotionally-engaging it is, I would have read it long ago. Reading it on the Kindle was effective for a couple of reasons:
1. I could look up antiquated words quickly and easily to understand the book more fully
2. I had forgotten how long the book was, and since the pages are numbered much differently on the Kindle I didn't realize I was reading 700-800 pages. Do not let this discourage you, however, because every word of this book was worth it. This could be the best-written and most impactful book I have ever read. It is such easy reading that I did not realize how much I was reading. PLEASE read this book. It is worth every moment of your time, and it is quite easy to read. Stowe has become one of my greatest heroes.
Characters:
Uncle Tom
Aunt Chloe
Mas'r George (Shelby)
Mrs. Emily Shelby
Mr. Arthur Shelby
Mr. Haley
George Harris
Eliza Harris
Harry Harris
Augustine St. Clare
Eva St. Clare
Marie St. Clare
Miss Ophelia
The Quakers
Senator and Mrs. Bird
Tom Loker
Topsy
Simon Legree
Cassy
Emmeline
The following is a VERY thorough summary of Uncle Tom's Cabin. I wrote this to remind me about the details. Feel free to read some of it, but I beg you to read the book rather than the summary because only by coming to love the characters that the full impact of this story will come to you. I fully believe this should be read by everyone, I believe it would serve as a better illustration of the effects of slavery than The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (and it would likely be used if it were not as long as it is - once again, it is important enough to read every page).
SUMMARY:
At the beginning of this book, Mr. Shelby is in debt to Mr. Haley. Shelby offers to deed Uncle Tom to Mr. Haley to cover his debts. Mr. Haley is unconvinced that this will be a "good deal" for him, so when the young boy, Harry Harris, enters the room and shows the exuberance of youth, Mr. Haley says he will agree to the deal if he also receives Harry.
Harry's mother, Eliza, overhears this discussion and breaks down when she is with Mrs. Shelby. Mrs. Shelby assures her Harry will not be sold, and Eliza is comforted.
Mrs. Shelby broaches the subject with Mr. Shelby later, and he expresses to her that they are in severe financial trouble and that it might come down to selling Uncle Tom and Harry or losing everything they have.
Stowe effectively paints the picture that no slavery is good slavery. The Shelbys care for their slaves well, but when they come on hard times they no longer control their fates, leaving them at the mercy of slave traders.
Shelby secretly agrees to the deal with Haley and plans to leave the following day to avoid being present when Uncle Tom and Harry are taken from their families.
Luckily Eliza overhears the entire exchange, and she prepares to leave that very night, to take Harry, and flee north into Canada.
Eliza's husband, George Harris, is owned by a neighbor of the Shelby family. He and his sister were sold away from their mother, and before long his sister was also sold south. He grieves his sister a great deal and really worries about her. George is a brilliant man who was hired out to a local factory and invented a wonderful time-saving measure. He received a great deal of praise from the factory owner which angered his master. His master immediately took him home and began to treat him worse than before, including branding his hand. George expressed to Eliza earlier that his master was going to force him to marry someone else and never see her again. He began planning an escape to Canada while Eliza still believed Harry was safe.
Eliza gathered a few provisions and headed out into the night. She stopped at Uncle Tom and Aunt Chloe's cabin to warn them about the sales of Tom and Harry. Tom believes it would unchristian of him to leave Mr. Shelby who has treated him so well, but he wishes Eliza and Harry well on their journey.
The next morning the Shelbys discover that Eliza and Harry are gone. Mrs. Shelby exults in this news because she was heartbroken when her husband told her he had already sold Tom and Harry. She had taught Eliza the importance on being loyal to family and didn't want to go against that word.
When Mr. Haley arrives, the Shelbys offer a pair of their slaves and a couple of horses to help him find Eliza and Harry. The slaves realize that Mrs. Shelby does not want to capture Eliza, so they intentionally mislead Mr. Haley in such a way that all of the blame falls on him. By evening, they catch up to Eliza who is waiting in a cabin for the only boat that will be crossing the tumultuous river which is filled with large chunks of ice.
She sneaks out the back door and runs, with Harry, toward the river. Despite distractions from the other slaves, he sees her and begins pursuit. Upon reaching the river, Eliza desperately leaps from ice chunk to ice chunk, with Harry in tow, and she safely reaches the other side: Ohio, which is free territory.
Mr. Haley must wait for the same boat Eliza had been in order to cross the river. Eliza encounters one of Mr. Shelbys neighbors just on the other side of the river and begs for his help. He knows something must be bad if Eliza is running away from the Shelbys who have always treated their slaves well, so he points out a house to her where she is likely to receive help.
Eliza quickly moves to that house, where she meets a senator and his wife. They had just been absorbed in conversation about a new law for which he voted that forces free states to return slaves to their owners. He stands by his decision. His wife is unconvinced and asks what he would do if someone showed up at his door. He remains convinced he would turn the slave over. Within minutes, Eliza and Harry show up at the door.
They provide a place for Eliza to rest with Harry, who she refuses to let out of her arms. Knowing that someone will soon be looking for Eliza, the senator decides to personally take a carriage to an acquaintance of his in a Quaker settlement, and then continue on to the capitol to avoid suspicion.
The Quakers quickly take Eliza and Harry in, and begin planning their transfer north, all the way to Canada.
Mr. Haley, meanwhile, hires a couple of men including Tom Loker to track Eliza and Harry down, for which they will be able to keep Eliza and bring Harry to Mr. Haley's care.
George escaped around the same time as Eliza, and is traveling as a man of Spanish descent with his "slave," a man who has already escaped, but returned to free his mother. He believes his best chance of going undetected is to remain close to home. He even spends an evening in a tavern where all the men are discussing him and how they hope to be the ones to catch him for the reward. He is bold enough to join in this conversation.
He notices that one of the men (the owner of the factory where he worked and was very well-liked) keeps looking at him and almost recognizing him, so he goes with him to another room and reveals himself, before hurrying on his way to the Quakers.
There, George, Eliza, and Harry are reunited. They are soon transported north to another Quaker settlement, at a great deal of peril. They are being pursued by Tom Loker and several others, who catch up with them near a ridge which is familiar to one of their guides. He takes them up the ridge into an outcropping while Tom Loker is right on their heels. They shoot Tom once, but he is still able to get to them. The guide pushes him, and he falls quite a distance, only to be abandoned by the rest of his "hunting party."
The "fugitives" take pity on him and take him to the Quaker settlement to receive care. They stay here for quite some time planning their escape. Tom Loker, who now identifies with them more than those who abandoned him, gives them several tips which direct them how to change their appearance to avoid being suspected.
Eliza cuts her hair short and dresses as a man and travels directly with George who does not change his appearance. Harry has been fed sweets for several days by a Quaker woman who becomes his traveling companion. The man he was traveling with earlier is also there with his mother.
With a great deal of nervousness, they are able to cross safely into Canada and begin a new life as a family.
Meanwhile, Uncle Tom is taken from Aunt Chloe and their children by Mr. Haley, and the two begin their journey south. George Shelby, the Shelbys son, has been away from home the entire time. He is very close to Tom and Chloe and plays with their children. He is able to catch up with Tom just before he embarks on a steamboat for the south. He also gives a coin to Tom to remember him by. They have tragic goodbye, and George promises Tom he will come find him as soon as he can.
While on the steamboat, Mr. Haley quickly realizes how reliable Tom is. He has shackled him from the beginning, but he gives Tom more and more freedom. On the steamboat is a lovely little girl (Eva St. Clare) and her aunt (Miss Ophelia) and father (Arthur St. Clare). After hearing Tom's story of being taken from his wife and children, Eva begs her father to purchase Tom so she can be sure he is treated well. After some negotiating with Mr. Haley, a deal is struck and Tom goes home with the St. Clares.
Marie St. Clare constantly complains about various imaginary ailments from which she is suffering, and abuses her slaves as much as Arthur will allow her. He, however, has a very free hand with his slaves. His mother, a Christian woman, instilled in him a respect for all human life. He believes slavery is not right, but doesn't go so far as to believe it is wrong enough for him to change it. He allows them to wear his clothing and act however they wish, making it seem that being his slave is not a bad situation.
He has brought Miss Ophelia, his cousin, back from Vermont to help raise Eva and run the household since Marie is completely useless. Miss Ophelia helped to raise Arthur, and she knows how to run a strict household. She quickly takes over these duties. Miss Ophelia adds an interesting element to the story. As a northerner, she has no stake in slavery. She sees it as a horrible way to treat people, but at the same time she thinks of Africans and African Americans as lesser people, evidenced by her shock that Eva is allowed to play with and even touch the family's slaves. She often speaks of how she would be able to "train" slaves properly without using violence.
Arthur buys a young girl for her to raise as she so often mentions she would be able to do. Topsy has never known her mother, father, or any siblings. She was sold to and raised by a slave trader, and then sold various times. She does not know how old she is, where or when she was born, or anything about her personal history. Most recently, she was owned by a tavern owner and his wife. They beat her frequently, which is the real reason Arthur purchased her - to get her away from them.
Miss Ophelia had previously refused the services of the St. Clare's chamber maid in making her bed and drawing her bath. But, she feels that allowing Topsy to complete these tasks will help with her education. Since Topsy has only known violence, she often steals from Miss Ophelia and will only work when being directly supervised. Miss Ophelia explains to her the gravity of her actions and what they could mean for her in the eternities, but Topsy can only explain her actions the way they have always been explained for her: "I guess I's just wicked."
Tom becomes Eva's companion and driver. His only responsibilities are to take her wherever she wants to go. Eva is a sweet Christian girl, concerned with the way that people treat other people within slavery. She is young enough that she does not make the mental leap to ask her father to free their slaves, but she often hints at it as she struggles within herself to understand these terrible circumstances. She is wise beyond her years. Her heart breaks when she hears of a slave on a neighboring farm who is beaten to death, and it equally breaks when she hears stories of how families are split apart as sons and daughters, sisters and mothers are sold.
Eva has an amazing power over other people which emanates from her love for them. One day after Topsy has done something particularly terrible, Eva takes Topsy into another room explains to her about Jesus Christ and God, and how she must act to please Them for the sake of her eternal soul. Something about Eva's loving way of approaching this gets through to Topsy. It becomes clear that despite her good intentions, Miss Ophelia's refusal to touch Topsy has been almost as painful as the beatings Topsy once received.
Miss Ophelia quickly takes a lesson from Eva, and begins to show genuine affection for Topsy, which completes Topsy's transformation. Miss Ophelia also insists that Arthur sign papers to gift Topsy to her. He says he will eventually, but she presses the issue and makes him do it on the spot, saying that his good intentions will die with him should he meet an early death.
It soon becomes evident that Eva is very sick and that she knows she is dying. It is unclear what disease she suffers from, but she begins to hint and eventually talk outright about her impending death. She asks her father to free Tom as her dying wish, and he promises he will.
Not long before she dies, she asks for all of the household to be gathered so she can speak to them. Eva treats everyone with the most love and care, so she is dear to every slave and member of the family (least of all to Marie, her mother, who throughout Eva's sickness complains first that Eva isn't that sick and she is just stealing attention from Marie's true illnesses, and eventually, that she has known all along that Eva was seriously ill and that her worry is so taxing that she needs more attention and care). She tells them all of Jesus Christ and God, and begs them to try to live the best Christian lives they can. Then, she gives each person a lock of her hair to remind them to be their best.
Soon after, Eva dies, and Marie demands even more from Mammy (her caretaker from childhood) who she has not allowed to sleep through the night for several years) and the other slaves. Arthur continues to go about his business despite the fact that he is the one truly mourning the loss of Eva.
He begins the papers to make Tom free, but he doesn't really pursue it. Sadly, not long after Eva's death, Arthur goes to a tavern and in the process of breaking up a fight he is stabbed. He dies before freeing any of his slaves. Topsy is the only one who is safe, since she "belongs" to Miss Ophelia. The rest of the household is sold at auction, including Uncle Tom who was only days away from returning to his family in Kentucky.
Tom is purchased at auction by Simon Legree, a terrible task master who also purchases a middle aged womand and Emmeline, a young girl (in her early teens) who is ripped from her mother's arms.
Legree has a theory that it is more cost-effective to treat his slaves badly and work them too hard, and then replace them when they die than to care for their health. He is extremely prideful. When they reach Legree's plantation, the reader is quickly introduced to his two henchmen - Sambo and Qimbo. They are also his slaves, but they are in charge of whipping and beating anyone whom Legree decides should be whipped. He purchased Tom planning to add him as one of his henchmen.
Emmeline is taken to the house to be, it is clear, a "favored" slave of Legree. This is emphasized throughout the book to be the greatest fear of slave mothers who have beautiful daughters. Cassy is an older slave whom Legree plans to "replace" with Emmeline. Her life started out well; she was raised in a kind family and allowed to go to school. Her master died, however, and she was sold. She was quickly purchased by a man who was taken by her beauty. They lived as if they were married, and she loved him a great deal. They even had two children together. For some reason, however, he refused to ever marry her or free her and their children.
When another man came to town who wanted Cassy, this man began taking Cassy's husband out drinking and gambling. He also introduced him to another woman with whom Cassy's husband quickly fell in love. When his debts were great, this other man purchased Cassy from her husband (which had been the man's plan all along) and her children were both sold to other slave owners. When Cassy became angry and depressed at the loss of her children and husband, this man no longer wished to own her. He fathered a child with her, but Cassy could not stand that thought of her new baby girl being sold like her other daughter or herself, she decided it would be more merciful to die than to live in these circumstances, and she suffocated her infant child. Eventually, she was sold to Simon Legree.
Tom and the middle-aged woman are taken to the slaves cabins, and soon after the other slaves return from the fields, exhausted from being overworked. They all must grind their own corn and make corn cakes, their only food, before they can sleep for the night. It is past midnight before Tom and a few other slaves get their turn with the grinder. He grinds their corn for them and for the middle-aged woman purchased with him.
The next day in the fields he sees this middle-aged woman will not have enough cotton to meet her quota so he begins to add some of his cotton to her basket. He is struck down by the henchmen for this. He continues to add her her basket throughout the day, despite protestations from Cassy who is working the field for the first time that day to show her defiance for Legree. Cassy adds some of her own cotton to Tom's basket, and then tells him he must never show compassion like that again or Legree will make his life even more miserable, and eventually kill him.
At the end of the long day, Sambo and Qimbo tell Legree that Tom helped the middle-aged woman. Even though her basket has enough cotton, Legree says it does not and tells Tom to whip her. Tom, who is very compliant normally, refuses. He says he will never intentionally hurt or injure someone else. He tells Legree that he will work for him however hard he is required since Legree purchased his body, but Jesus Christ had already purchased his soul and he would not give it to another human. Legree is outraged, so he orders Sambo and Qimbo to beat Tom, which they eagerly do.
As Tom lays in a great deal of pain in a shed that night, Cassy sneaks out of the house and brings him water and medicine for his wounds. She explains she does this for other slaves as well when they are beaten. She tries once again to convince Tom to do as Legree says, but Tom explains to her about his belief in God and Jesus Christ, and that he cannot do what Legree asks if it will hurt another person. He asks her to get his Bible from pocket and read to him. Cassy explains her life story and says that clearly, God is not with her.
The henchmen find a pouch around Uncle Tom's neck containing the lock of Eva's hair and the coin Master George gave to him. They bring it to Legree and tell him it must be something to do with witchcraft. This terrifies him because the lock of hair looks just like the lock of his mother's hair which was mailed to him after her death. Thoughts of his dead mother terrify him because he rejected her and her Christianity. He burned her lock of hair which was the same color as Eva's, so he is never quite sure if that hair is actually from his mother. This makes him a bit afraid of further harming Tom.
When Tom heals a bit, Legree tells him again that if he agrees to be his henchman he will live better than the other slaves, but Tom refuses again. Along with his fears of Tom being able to curse him, Cassy convinces Legree that hurting Tom any more during the harvest will only lead Legree to to losing a bet with his fellow plantation owners that he will have the largest harvest. Legree agrees, but vows to make Tom pay later.
Tom's kindness is quickly noticed by the other slaves, and since they are forbidden to gather, he begins to preach to them one by one, and they pass his stories along to each other.
Meanwhile, even Cassy begins to believe Tom due to his faithfulness to his beliefs. One evening as Cassy speaks to Tom, she asks him why he doesn't run away with her to freedom. He says he cannot do that because Legree has purchased him, but he encourages her to run away if she can. Although Cassy has thought a lot about it over the years, she could never come up with a good plan because Legree has several vicious hounds, and his entire plantation is surrounded by swamps. Everyone who has tried to escape before has been attacked and killed by the hounds.
Somehow talking to Tom, however, she thinks of a simple plan. Over a period of time, she begins to stock provisions in the garret (attic). As she does so, she also works to revive myths of ghosts haunting the garret. She convinces Legree of the idea, who is already quite afraid of ghosts, especially the ghost of his mother.
Before long, she is able to implement her escape with Emmeline. The two run off into the swamps. Just before they get there, Legree sees them and yells after them. Emmeline freezes in fear, so Cassy pulls out a knife and tells her she will kill her if she does not move. Although she doesn't intend to carry out her threat, she knew it might be necessary to get Emmeline moving at some point.
Legree quickly organizes a search party offering all slaves who participate ample alcohol, and the one who catches Emmeline and catches or kills Cassy a reward. Most of the slaves participate, but Tom stays back.
Meanwhile, Cassy and Emmeline circle back to the house and go to the garret to live long enough that no one will be looking for them.
When Legree returns with no sign of Cassy and Emmeline, he threatens Tom. Tom will not lie, so he admits he knows what happened to to the fugitives, but he refuses to tell where they are. He is beaten until he almost dies, and then he is left to die in a shed.
As Tom is dying, the readers attention is brought back to the Shelby family. Arthur Shelby dies, leaving his affairs to be handled by Mrs. Shelby and George. A few months pass as they do their best to take care of many issues. Finally, George is able to get away and fulfill his promise to search for Tom.
Sadly, George arrives just moments before Tom dies. He lets Legree know that they way he treated Tom and all of his other slaves is inhumane. He demands Tom's body so he can properly bury him. Legree is slightly humbled by George's speech, and he puts up no fight. As George gets help carrying Tom's body away for burial, several slaves beg George to purchase them. He is too overcome and tells them he cannot help them.
Tom makes it clear to George that he doesn't want Chloe to know the conditions in which he died. His death inspires George who frees all of the Shelbys' slaves when he returns to Kentucky. They all beg that he not force them to leave, and he says they are all welcome to stay, but they will now be paid for their work and taught what it is like to be free. He does not want debt or his death to ruin their futures.
On George's trip home, Cassy and Emmeline run into him. Cassy witnessed his exchange with Legree so she tries to remain close to him. Her skin is light enough and she has enough in her upbringing that she is able to play the part of a woman of high class and she represents Emmeline as her slave.
Before long, she reveals herself to George and requests his help. He agrees to do whatever he can to keep her safe. Another woman is also traveling north with them, and she asks George if he knows a man named George Harris. He says that yes, George was on a neighboring farm, but he escaped with his wife Eliza and their son Harry. This woman is so pleased that her brother is safe. She inquires about the kind of person Eliza is, and feels so pleased to hear of Eliza's pious upbringing in the Shelby home. George mentions where Eliza was purchased from, and Cassy faints away. It comes out that Eliza is the daughter that was sold away from Cassy.
The other woman, Cassy, and Emmeline all travel to Canada in search of George, Eliza, and Harry. In the five years that have passed, they have improved their lives greatly and added a daughter to their family. Cassy, Emmeline, and the other woman find them through the Quakers who helped them and they all eventually move to Africa after George completes college in France.
Uncle Tom's tragic life and death provides freedom for almost everyone whom he confronted.
Stowe makes it clear that all slavery is bad, even if the owner treats his slaves well. It is too easy for a "good" slave owner to die or go into debt, thereby losing control of the human lives for which he is responsible.
Stowe ends the book by blatantly calling out people from all backgrounds and all states for their part in slavery and civil rights violations. She ends Uncle Tom's Cabin with these words:
"A day of grace is yet held out to us. Both North and South have been guilty before God; and theChristian church has a heavy account to answer. Not by combining together, to protect injustice and cruelty, and making a common capital of sin, is this Union to be saved, --but by repentance, justice and mercy, for, not surer is the eternal law by which the millstone sinks in the ocean, than that stronger law, by which injustice and cruelty shall bring on nations the wrath of Almighty God!"
The way these words follow over 700 pages of tragic stories of the effects of slavery makes it clear why President Abraham Lincoln said to Stowe upon meeting her:
"So you're the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war!"
