Monday, March 9, 2015

Texual Background and Context

Images are worth a thousand words, especially historical images. It's amazing to see how propoganda worked in the 1800's and realize how much our world has changed today. Headlined "Great Sale of SLAVES", this article reveals how african americans were dehumanized and treated like cattle. Listed off by gender, age, and skill ability, the description also holds a paragraph about the plantation the family is coming from.

The description of the past slave owners is especially interesting as it runs parallel to the text. Beecher Stowe reveals how slaves from different slave owners may have different attitudes. An example may be from where Tom is traded to his last master who is cruel and has raised some of his own slaves to feel superior to others, in fact these slaves "Sambo and Quimbo...hate[ed] each other, [but] were joined in one mind by no less cordial hatred of Tom "(375). Ultimately a result of their owners encouragment, this ends up with Tom being beated to death by them after refusing to give away the location of the women slaves who have run away.

This image also calls to memory the very first scene is Uncle Toms Cabin where Shelby calls Jim "Come here, Jim Crow...show this gentleman how you can dance and sing"(3) This shows how slaves were seen as products rather than humans, and had to have qualities that were of use to the slave owners.

Ultimately, this image represents the whole reason behind why abolotionists felt the way they did towards slavery. It's interesting to think about what would have happened if society would have treated their slaves more humanely all around. Maybe slavery would have lasted longer.

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