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Uncle Tom's Cabin
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Read Uncle Tom's Cabin

Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) (edit title/settings)

Or, Life Among the Lowly

by Harriet Beecher Stowe (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

Uncle Tom's Cabin is the most popular, influential and controversial book written by an American. Stowe s rich, panoramic novel passionately dramatises why the whole of America is implicated in and responsible for the sin of slavery, and resoundingly concludes that only 'repentance, justice... read more

Characters edit see section history

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Quotes edit see section history

  • “Mas'r Legree, as ye bought me, I'll be a true and faithful servant to ye. I'll give ye all the work of my hands, all my time, all my strength; but my soul I won't give up to mortal man. I will hold on the Lord, and put His commands before all--die or live; you may be sure on't.”
    Tom
  • “Yes, Mas'r, I'm willin' to work night and day, and work while there's life and breath in me; but this yer thing I can't fel it right to do; and, Mas'r, I never shall do it---never.”
    Tom

First Sentence edit see section history

Late in the afternoon of a chilly day in February, two gentlemen were sitting alone over their wine, in a well-furnished dining parlour, in the town of P-, in Kentucky.

Table of Contents edit see section history

1. In which the Reader is Introduced to a Man of Humanity
2. The Mother
3. The Husband and Father
4. An Evening in Uncle Tom's Cabin
5. Showing the Feelings of Living Property on Changing Owners
6. Discovery
7. The Mother's Struggle
8. Eliza's Escape
9. In which it Appears that a Senator is but a Man
10. The Property is Carried off
11. In which Property Gets into an Improper State of Mind
12. Select Incident of lawful Trade
13. The Quaker Settlement
14. Evangeline
15. Of Tom's new Master, and various other Matters
16. Tom's Mistress and her Opinions
17. The Free Man's Defence
18. Miss Ophelia's Experiences and Opinions
19. Miss Ophelia's Experiences and Opinions, continued
20. Topsy
21. Kentuck
22. 'The Grass Withereth - the Flower Fadeth'
23. Henrique
24. Foreshadowings
25. The Little Evangelist
26. Death
27. 'This is the Last of Earth'
28. Reunion
29. The Unprotected
30. The Slave Warehouse
31. The Middle Passage
32. Dark Places
33. Cassy
34. The Quadroon's Story
35. The Tokens
36. Emmeline and Cassy
37. Liberty
38. The Victory
39. The Stratagem
40. The Martyr
41. The Young Master
42. An Authentic Ghost Story
43. Results
44. The Liberator
45. Concluding Remarks

Glossary edit see section history

  • Badinage: 1. light, playful banter or raillery. 2. to banter with or tease (someone) playfully.
  • Sentience: Sentience is the ability to feel, perceive, or be conscious, or to experience subjectivity. Eighteenth century philosophers used the concept to distinguish the ability to think ("reason") from the ability to feel ("sentience"). In modern western philosophy, sentience is the ability to experience sensations (known by the technical term "qualia"). For Eastern philosophy, sentience is a metaphysical quality of all things that requires respect and care. The concept is central to the philosophy of animal rights, because sentience is necessary for the ability to suffer, which is held to entail certain rights.
  • Importunity: an insistent or pressing demand.
  • Efficacy: Power or capacity to produce a desired effect; effectiveness.
  • Rout: a. A disorderly retreat or flight following defeat.b. An overwhelming defeat.
  • Ebullition: 1. The state or process of boiling.2. A sudden, violent outpouring, as of emotion:
  • Sanguinary: 1. Accompanied by bloodshed.2. Eager for bloodshed; bloodthirsty.3. Consisting of blood.
  • Obstreperous: Noisily and stubbornly defiant.2. Aggressively boisterous.
  • Equivocal: 1. Open to two or more interpretations and often intended to mislead; ambiguous.2. Of uncertain significance.3. Of a doubtful or uncertain nature.
  • Exhortation: An address or communication emphatically urging someone to do something.
  • Barrage: a dam placed in a watercourse to increase the depth of water or to divert it into a channel for navigation or irrigation
  • Unction: : the act of anointing as a rite of consecration or healing2: something used for anointing : ointment, unguent3a : religious or spiritual fervor or the expression of such fervorb : exaggerated, assumed, or superficial earnestness of language or manner
  • Officious: a : kind, obligingb : dutiful2: volunteering one's services where they are neither asked nor needed
  • Pertinacious: a : adhering resolutely to an opinion, purpose, or designb : perversely persistent2: stubbornly tenacious
  • Obsequiousness: fawning attentiveness
  • Censer: a vessel for burning incense; especially : a covered incense burner swung on chains in a religious ritual
  • Cestus: a woman's belt; especially : a symbolic one worn by a bride
  • Physiognomy: the facial features held to show qualities of mind or character by their configuration or expression
  • Lineament: a : an outline, feature, or contour of a body or figure and especially of a face —usually used in pluralb : a linear topographic feature (as of the earth) that reveals a characteristic (as a fault or the subsurface structure)2: a distinguishing or characteristic feature —usually used in plural
  • Apocryphal: of doubtful authenticity : spurious
  • Abstruse: difficult to comprehend
  • Expatiate: to move about freely or at will : wander2: to speak or write at length or in detail
  • Synod: an ecclesiastical governing or advisory council
  • Pellucid: : admitting maximum passage of light without diffusion or distortion <a pellucid stream>2: reflecting light evenly from all surfaces3: easy to understand
  • Alacrity: promptness in response : cheerful readiness
  • Sententious: given to or abounding in excessive moralizing
  • Propitiate: to gain or regain the favor or goodwill of : appease
  • Extemporaneous: makeshift; impromptu
  • Peroration: the concluding part of a discourse and especially an oration2: a highly rhetorical speech
  • Sinecure: an office or position that requires little or no work and that usually provides an income
  • Au Fait: {French} fully informed; in touch or expert<literally: to the point>
  • Checkerberry: wintergreen plant
  • Oblique: a : not straightforward : indirect; also : obscureb : devious, underhanded
  • Defile (as a noun): any narrow passage, especially between mountains.
  • Improvident: Not providing for the future; thriftless.2. Rash; incautious.
  • Vertu (or Virtu): 1. A knowledge or love of or taste for fine objects of art.2. Objects of art, especially fine antique objets d'art, considered as a group
  • Lief: willing; desirous.dear; beloved; treasured.
  • Eldritch: Strange or unearthly; eerie
  • Inexorable: unyielding; unalterable: inexorable truth; inexorable justice.2.not to be persuaded, moved, or affected by prayers or entreaties: an inexorable creditor.
  • Canaille: riffraff; rabble
  • Invective: vehement or violent denunciation, censure, or reproach.2.a railing accusation; vituperation.3.an insulting or abusive word or expression.
  • Execrate: to detest utterly; abhor; abominate.2.to curse; imprecate evil upon; damn; denounce: He execrated all who opposed him.
  • Desuetude: the state of being no longer used or practiced.
  • Curvetting: Dressage. a leap of a horse from a rearing position, in which it springs up with the hind legs outstretched as the forelegs descend.; to leap and frisk.
  • Enervate: to deprive of force or strength; destroy the vigor of; weaken.
  • Assiduous: constant in application or effort; working diligently at a task; persevering; industrious; attentive: an assiduous student.
  • Calaboose: jail; prison; lockup.
  • E`leve´: {French} A pupil; a student
  • Jurisprudence: the science or philosophy of law.2.a body or system of laws.3.a department of law: medical jurisprudence.
  • Apportionate: to distribute or allocate proportionally; divide and assign according to some rule of proportional distribution: to apportion expenses among the three men.
  • Flambeaux: a flaming torch.2.a torch for use at night in illuminations, processions, etc.3.a large, decorated candlestick.4.an ornament having the form of a flaming torch.
  • Escutcheon: a shield or shieldlike surface on which a coat of arms is depicted. See illus. under coat of arms.2.an ornamental or protective plate around a keyhole, door handle, drawer pull, light switch, etc.3.Nautical . a panel on the stern of a vessel bearing its name and port of registry.
  • Raillery: jesting, joking, badinage, chaff, pleasantry.
  • Palliasse: straw-filled mattress; pallet
  • Recontre: an encounter, esp. hostile
  • Perspicuous: clearly expressed or presented; lucid.
  • Pneumatology: Theology .a.doctrine concerning the holy spirit.b.the belief in intermediary spirits between humans and God.2.the doctrine or theory of spiritual beings.
  • Punctilious: strict or exact in the observance of the formalities or amenities of conduct or actions.
  • Dies Irae: A medieval Latin hymn describing Judgment Day, used in some masses for the dead
Show all 59 glossary entries

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

  • Racism: Usually means the prejudice against another person because of race, skin color, and/or background.
  • Religion: 1. The belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, esp. a personal God or gods.2. Details of belief as taught or discussed.
  • Freedom: The power to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 893 of 1286 in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. (authoritative list)
This book is in The Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge. (community list)
This book is in Readers Digest Press. (publisher edition list)
This book is in Guardian 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read. (authoritative list)
This book is in Penguin Classics. (publisher edition list)
This book is in Books to Read in 2011. (community list)
This is book 49 of 113 in Book Smart Reading List. (community list)
This is book 89 of 91 in The Novel 100: A Ranking of the Greatest Novels of All Time, 2004. (authoritative list)
This book is in Books That Changed Man's Thinking (Heron). (publisher edition list)
This is book 67 of 73 in Robert B. Downs - Books that Changed the World. (authoritative list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Harriet Beecher Stowe (Author)

Other Contributors:

  1. Susanne Althoetmar-Smarczyk (Translator)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Hammatt Billings
Country: USA
Publication Date: March 20, 1852
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 435

Classification edit see section history

  • Copyright Status: Public Domain
  • Library of Congress: PS2954 .U5
  • Dewey: 818'.3

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Young Adults

Has alot of older English words that might be hard to understand.

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

  • http://www.harrietbeecherstowecenter.org/: This is a website for anything you need to know about Harriet Beecher Stowe
  • Project Gutenberg: You can read the full, original English text of this public domain work at Project Gutenberg; it is also available to download for free in a variety of eBook formats.
  • Project Gutenberg: A public domain German translation of this work is availbleat Project Gutenberg; it is also available to download for free in a variety of eBook formats.
  • Librivox: Free audio book read by John Greenman, Total running time: 18:06:33

Movie Connections edit see section history

  • Dimples (IMDb): Shirley Temple's character, Dimples, is cast as Eva St. Clare in a stage production of Uncle Tom's Cabin.

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
  • To Kill a Mockingbird
  • Uncle Tom's Cabin - Young Folks' Edition

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history

   
  • Harriet Beecher Stowe
  • Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Beecher Preachers (Unforgettable Americans)

Books That Cite This Book edit see section history

   
  • Lustmord
  • The Language Police
  • Books in a Box
  • Finlater
  • American Earth
  • America's Prophet
  • Raising Elijah

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