Struggles of Slavery and the Economy Essay Example for Free

Struggles of Slavery and the Economy Essay The economy was the underlying factor affecting multiple aspects of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The novel takes place in the 1850’s antebellum era, when slavery was a large portion of the economy – especially in the South. The moral division between the North and South illustrates how the economy differed between those two separate geographical areas. The economy drove the South’s â€Å"need† for slavery which, in turn, also affected family, education, law and government as depicted throughout the novel. The author portrayed this through his characters and specific events. At the beginning of the novel, there was a discussion between Mr. Shelby and Mr. Haley about selling slaves. Mr. Shelby was in debt and needed to sell two of his slaves to get money to support his family and land. To do this, he enlisted the assistance of Mr. Haley, a slave trader. Small farm owners could not afford many slaves, even though they were the most important component to crop production in the south. Mr. Shelby’s small portion of land was genuinely special to him. Without slavery, crop growth would be slowed because the slaves did all the work in the fields and factories. It would adversely affect income for most southern farm and factory owners. Mr. Shelby was so desperate for extra money that he was forced to consider selling his most valuable slave, Tom, to Mr. Haley. He trusted Tom to the point of allowing him to go out alone, knowing he would always return. Unfortunately, the difficult economy forced Mr. Shelby to give up both Tom and a young boy named Harry in order to keep his plantation. During this specific time period, it was not uncommon for slave owners to sell their slaves because of the economic turmoil they endured. As expected, the slave families involved were adversely affected. Eliza, the mother of Harry, overheard Mr. Shelby explaining his decision to sell her son, so she took him and escaped. She could not allow her little boy to be sold off to another family and lose him for good. Eliza did what any mother would do to protect their child. Being on the run during this era was a huge risk, but Eliza had no choice. She and Harry fled to Canada, with Mr. Haley after them. Luckily, she found different families and places to rest and get food for her journey. Thanks to the help of this â€Å"Underground Railroad† and her fellow slaves, Mr. Haley was unable to find Eliza and her son. He finally gave up and sold Tom, who was then taken away in shackles. Fortunately for Eliza, the Quaker families who helped her and Harry were not scared off by the risks involved in helping slaves. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 stated that any person who knew where an escaped slave was must return them to their master in the South. The slaves that were able to escape and make it to the North were continuously hunted by the law. Later, the law was revised to punish anyone aiding and sheltering a slave with prison and fines of one thousand dollars. After this act went into effect, officials were rewarded when they returned runaway slaves and punished if they helped them escape to freedom. Eliza and her son were fortunate to stumble upon Senator Bird’s home to ask for food and shelter. Senator Bird had just signed in favor of the Fugitive Slave Act yet he did not truly believe in it. He gave Eliza ten dollars and brought her to another home, even though he knew he was violating the law. Eliza, after reuniting with her husband George, found another family of Quakers who were more than willing to help her and her family. These families, aware of the law and the financial consequences did what was right to help these people escape to freedom. Tom, however, was initially not as fortunate as Eliza and her family. He was sold off into the slave market with Mr. Haley as his current owner. On a boat headed towards the deep South, Tom met a young white girl named Eva. Tom saved her when she fell overboard. After Tom rescued Eva, her father, Augustine St.  Clare, offered to buy Tom in order to â€Å"make him happy† as requested by his daughter. St. Clare was not a typical Southern slave owner. He was kind and gentle with each of them. He had a different agenda for owning slaves rather than the economic advantage it would give him and his plantation. St. Clare knew that not one single person could end slavery, but he felt he could do everything he could to help protect some slaves like Tom and a girl named Topsy. Topsy was purchased by St. Clare from a slave master who brutally abused her. St.  Clare wanted to give her a better life, including an education like his current slaves had. His alternative views from most of his southern neighbors regarding slavery are obviously displayed when he says, â€Å"I heartily wish that there were not a slave in the land; but, then, I don’t know what is to be done about it! † His wife Marie, a very selfish, unloving person, was an advocate of slavery and that caused altercations within the St. Clare family. This difference within St. Clare’s family member created conflict on how to treat the slaves and resulted in hatred towards one another. Eva and Tom’s friendship grew so strongly that before she died due to illness, she asked her father to promise to set Tom free. Unfortunately, St. Clare, being the caring man he was, died trying to break up a fight before he was able to sign for the slave’s freedom. They were left to Marie. She used this opportunity to obtain money and sold Tom to another slave owner. Marie had different beliefs and morals than the rest of her family. She used the slaves for financial gratification when she was finished ordering them around. Marie’s view on slavery is best represented when she says, â€Å"I’m thankful I’m born where slavery exists; and I believe it’s right, I’m sure I couldn’t get along without it. † Educated slaves had a large impact on the economy of the South. For example, George, who was a mulatoo, invented a machine while working as a slave at a factory. This machine sped up the process of cleaning hemp, which impressed the factory’s owner. This invention greatly increased productivity in the south, because they were able to sell hemp much quicker increasing profit. Having educated slaves was extremely rare during this era, but when they were, it was usually because their owners taught them. â€Å"Mulatoo† is a term used to describe a slave whose one parent was white (most likely the father) and the other was African American (most likely the mother). This is just another example of how slavery impacted African American families. Slave Masters did not like to educate their slaves because they believed the slaves would then become more likely to want to improve their lowly status. African Americans in the 1850’s were bought for cheap labor on the farms, factory work, and typical house duties. The slave masters feared that if they were successful, like when George invented his machine, they would feel superior towards the other slaves and even their white masters. They would probably no longer be satisfied being a slave; this would lead to unrest. Owners did not want the slaves to be educated because they could then learn about freedom, which may entice them to escape. Yet, if slaves were given a basic education, they could have used that knowledge to increase the productivity of the Slave Master’s farms and businesses and improved the economy. On the contrary, the North had a different form of income. Instead of armland, they were industrialized with factories that any race could work in. The abolitionists in the north were against slavery and did not believe in having servants like the south did. Some Northerners, however, were not as opposed to slavery. Many northern people turned their heads and allowed slavery to continue because without it, crop production would be slowed and be more expensive. The north relied on purchasing crops from the south so their economy would also have been negatively impacted. Throughout this novel, it is obvious that the economy was the underlying factor affecting multiple aspects of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. These aspects varied from the pressures of selling slaves in order to get out of debt to whether or not African Americans were educated. Also, the economy affected families, especially the slaves but also the Quakers who helped the runaways. Harriet Beecher Stowe did a fine job illustrating these points throughout Uncle Tom’s Cabin. She was able to humanize the slaves which helps create sympathy for them. While her main objective was to convince others of the horrors of slavery, she was smart enough to use the economy as a motivating factor to achieve her goal.