| May 29 |  |
Editor says, what if Harriet Beecher Stowe had never written "Uncle Tom's Cabin"? muses Jackie Rose. Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s). This story was published in the June 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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It is 1850, and Henry Ward Beecher (pictured) has been accused of adultery. Since he is a prominent Congregationalist minister and active abolitionist, the scandal soon taints the entire anti-slavery movement.
Scandal shuts down Uncle Tom's CabinHis sister Harriet had been planning to write an anti-slavery novel, which she tentatively titled "Uncle Tom's Cabin". Fearing to share her brother's public shame, she retreats into private life. She is never heard from again, and the uproar over her brother's behavior causes the entire anti-slavery movement to collapse.
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Jackie Rose
© Jackie Rose, 2011-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Personalities Source: Wikipedia Labels: Uncle Tom's Cabin, Civil War, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry Ward Beecher, America. Editor says, what really happened: The trial began in 1875 .. 23 years after the famous novel was published. Many observers believe that "Uncle Tom's Cabin" played a vital role in causing the Civil War and the ensuing abolition of slavery. They included Abraham Lincoln who greeted her at a reception as "the little woman who started the great war".
~ Lucky for them TMZ didn't exist in those days. :D
~ When it comes to 'activist' novels I always wonder how much accuracy they have compared to how much sensationalism. I didn't live at the time so I don't know if Uncle Tom's Cabin was close to the truth or far from it but I know that a couple modern examples are the extreme emotionally charged but never let the facts interfere with the agenda style so I find myself questioning older novels.
~ I believe that another abolitionist had told Harriet that he actually met a man in a tavern who was the model for Simon Legree...and it does seem likely that a few men bought slaves because those men were sadists. The fictional Simon was a Yankee who had gone South so he could own slaves, most definitely including slave girls. Of course, that real-life Simon Legree could just have been jerking the abolitionist's chain, no pun intended.
At any rate, the effect of the novel was very real indeed. In addition to its impact on history, it is also credited as having been the first best seller.
~ Without _Uncle Tom's Cabin,_ there'd probably still have been a Civil War and stuff, but it would have likely taken longer to happen. One side-effect would be that our culture would look rather different---_UTC_ was very influential in a lot of subtle ways.
~ In the interests of full disclosure..."Jackie Rose" and "Cassandra" are the same person, with different names for different e-mail addresses (although she is not yet sure which is which).
© Today in Alternate History, 2013-. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
