Theme+Slavery

= Uncle Tom's Cabin Theme of Slavery =

Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote //Uncle Tom’s Cabin// specifically in order to illustrate the evil and inhumanity of slavery to her mid-19th century American readers, for whom slavery was a current and heated political issue. The novel illustrates not only the suffering and misery of the slaves themselves, but also the way that slavery as an institution harms everyone involved in it. Even those who do not participate directly in slavery are shown to be complicit – such as northern politicians and citizens. Thus slavery, in addition to being highly unethical, is portrayed as unviable in economic, social, and political terms as well.