Uncle Tom's Personality

“Tom was sitting very mournfully while this conversation was going on. Suddenly he heard the quick, short click of a horse’s hoofs behind him, and before he could fairly awake from his surprise, young Master George sprang into the wagon, threw his arms round his neck, and was sobbing and scolding with energy.” (Page 101, Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
In this chapter Tom is being taken away by Haley, the slave trader. Uncle Tom is very sad and depressed that he is being taken away from the Shelby’s plantation. In this quote George Shelby is chasing after Tom to tell him good bye. He finds Tom and a tavern and gives him a hug and starts crying. It seems as if the slave trader has grown attached to his slave like a friend. Their relationship is not slave owner and slave. They are actually friends and they respect each other. In the south there was no such thing as white people and black people being friends. There were slaves and slave owners. Uncle Tom seems to have a big impact on people because of his kind gentle nature. Uncle Tom is one of the nicest people in the book even though he is being forced to work for no pay. He doesn’t get mad at anyone he just says “let god have mercy on them”.

Anyone Could Save a Life or Two

“When they had gained the top of the bank, the man paused. ‘I'd be glad to do something for ye,’ said he, ‘but then there's nowhar I could take ye. The best I can do is to tell ye to go thar’ said he, pointing to a large white house which stood by itself, off the main street of the village. ‘Go thar. They're kind folks. Thar's no kind o' danger but they'll help you—they're up to all that sort o' thing.’ ‘The Lord bless you!’ said Eliza earnestly. ‘No 'casion, no 'casion in the world,’ said the man. ‘What I've done's of no 'count.’ ‘And oh, surely sir, you won't tell anyone!’” (Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Page 64)
In this chapter Haley the slave trader is searching for Eliza and Harry the runaway slave. After being told about the sale Mrs. Shelby doesn’t want Haley to own her slaves. She and Mr. Shelby are shown as very nice considerate people. In this scene Eliza is trying to escape Haley and she falls in a river. Mr. Symmes, a farmer, hears her cries for help. He says he can’t do much for her except tell her that she can go to a nearby house where the white people will help her. This quote shows the reader that not every person in the south was pro slavery. There were many people against slavery and helped runaway slaves. This kind of relates to the Jews when they needed help from people except people that helped Jews faced dire consequences where as in the south people that helped runaway slaves would not experience many consequences. By having helped Eliza and Harry escape Tom now has to be sold alone for 1000 dollars.

Jim Crow

“ 'Come here, Jim Crow,’ said he. The child came up, and the master patted the curly head and chucked him under the chin. ‘Now, Jim, show this gentleman how you can dance and sing.’ The boy at once commenced a wild, grotesque song common among the Negroes, in a rich, clear voice, accompanying his singing with many comic movements of the hands, feet, and whole body, all in perfect time to the music.” (Page 3, Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
Here is a talented young boy and he is being sold as a slave to another master. The name of this boy is actually Harry but he is called Jim Crow which is a very familiar name. This gives the reader an understanding of where the Jim Crow Laws originated from. It is said that Jim Crow was a dance that white people would do to make fun of black people. Here the boy’s nickname is really Jim Crow. The master has him dance and sing to impress the buyer. It seems cruel that the boy is being forced to act like a circus animal. Mr. Shelby is the slave owner that is selling him and Tom to another slave owner named Haley. Mr. Shelby has a heart and he is not a mean slave owner. He still is pro slavery but he doesn’t treat his slave with cruelty like Haley does. However in this one part he makes the boy dance to sell him to settle his debts. Slavery was wrong no matter how it is looked upon. The slave owner could be nice but he is still a slave owner which doesn’t make him a saint. This book shows the reader that there were differences between the slave owners in the south.

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Uncle Tom’s Cabin is about a black slave that is sold many times in the book with no problem. He is one of the few slaves that can read and he makes a very big impact on a white girl that he saves from drowning. I read a short version of this book in seventh grade and it was on of the best books I ever read. The short version was hard to read because it was in old English with many grammatical mistakes. Harriet Beecher Stowe does a great job of representing the life of slaves back in the 1700s and 1800s and she makes Tom seem like the hero of the book. Tom may not have powers or super strength but his intelligence is what makes him a hero in this book. This book is what started the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln says, “So you’re the little lady who wrote the book that made this Great War.” Stowe’s book showed the evils of slavery throughout the world. She showed people how horrible it was that her people were being treated like animals. This is a book that should at least be heard of by anyone that knows about racism and slavery.