Uncle Tom’s Cabin
HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.‘One thing is certain, - that there is a mustering among the masses, the world over; and there is a dis irae coming on, sooner or later.’Viewed by many as fuelling the abolitionist movement of the 1850s and laying the groundwork for the Civil War, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s sentimental and moral tale of slaves attempting to secure their freedom was one of the most popular books of the nineteenth century. Centred round the long-suffering Uncle Tom, a devout Christian slave who endures cruelty and abuse from his owners, Tom is often celebrated as the first black hero in American fiction who refuses to obey his white masters. With other strong protagonists such as Eliza, a courageous slave who flees to the North with her son when she learns that he is to be sold, Beecher Stowe highlighted the plight of southern slaves and the breaking up of black families. Not without its controversy, more recent criticism has suggested that the novel contributed negatively to the stereotyping of the black community.
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UNCLE TOMâS CABIN
Harriet Beecher Stowe
CONTENTS
Chapter 1 In Which the Reader is Introduced to a Man of Humanity
Chapter 3 The Husband and Father
Chapter 4 An Evening in Uncle Tomâs Cabin
Chapter 5 Showing the Feelings of Living Property on Changinâ Owners
Chapter 7 The Motherâs Struggle
Chapter 9 In Which IT Appears that a Senator is But a Man
Chapter 10 The Property is Carried Off
Chapter 11 In Which Property Gets into an Improper State of Mind
Chapter 12 Select Incident of Lawful Trade
Chapter 13 The Quaker Settlement
Chapter 15 Of Tomâs New Master, and Various Other Matters
Chapter 16 Tomâs Mistress and Her Opinions
Chapter 17 The Freemanâs Defence
Chapter 18 Miss Opheliaâs Experiences and Opinions
Chapter 19 Miss Opheliaâs Experiences and OpinionsâContinued
Chapter 22 âThe Grass WitherethâThe Flower Fadeth.â
Chapter 25 The Little Evangelist
Chapter 27 âThis is the Last of Earth.ââJohn Q. Adams
Chapter 30 The Slave Warehouse
Chapter 34 The Quadroonâs Story
Chapter 42 An Authentic Ghost Story
Classic Literature: Words and Phrases Adapted from theCollins English Dictionary
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 Pâ, in Kentucky. There were no servants present, and the gentlemen, with chairs closely approaching, seemed to be discussing some subject with great earnestness.
For convenienceâ sake, we have said, hitherto, two gentlemen. One of the parties, however, when critically examined, did not seem, strictly speaking, to come under the species. He was a short, thick-set man, with coarse, commonplace features and that swaggering air of pretension which marks a low man who is trying to elbow his way upward in the world. He was much overdressed, in a gaudy vest of many colours, a blue neckerchief, bedropped gaily with yellow spots, and arranged with a flaunting tie, quite in keeping with the general air of the man. His hands, large and coarse, were plentifully bedecked with rings; and he wore a heavy gold watch-chain, with a bundle of seals of portentous size, and a great variety of colours, attached to itâwhich, in the ardour of conversation, he was in the habit of flourishing and jingling with evident satisfaction. His conversation was in free and easy defiance of Murrayâs Grammar, and was garnished at convenient intervals with various profane expressions, which not even the desire to be graphic in our account shall induce us to transcribe.
His companion, Mr. Shelby, had the appearance of a gentleman; and the arrangements of the house, and the general air of the housekeeping, indicated easy, and even opulent, circumstances. As we before stated, the two were in the midst of an earnest conversation.
âThat is the way I should arrange the matter,â said Mr. Shelby.
âI canât make trade that wayâI positively canât, Mr. Shelby,â said the other, holding up a glass of wine between his eye and the light.
âWhy, the fact is, Haley, Tom is an uncommon fellow; he is certainly worth that sum anywhereâsteady, honest, capable, manages my whole farm like a clock.â
âYou mean honest, as niggers go,â said Haley, helping himself to a glass of brandy.
âNo; I mean, really, Tom is a good, steady, sensible, pious fellow. He got religion at a camp meeting, four years ago; and I believe he really did get it. Iâve trusted him, since then, with everything I haveâmoney, house, horsesâand let him come and go round the country; and I always found him true and square in everything.â
âSome folks donât believe there is pious niggers, Shelby,â said Haley, with a candid flourish of his hand, âbut I do. I had a fellow, now, in this yer last lot I took to Orleansââtwas as good as a meetinâ, now, really, to hear that critter pray; and he was quite gentle and quiet like. He fetched me a good sum, too, for I bought him cheap of a man that was âbliged to sell out; so I realised six hundred on him. Yes, I consider religion a valeyable thing in a nigger, when itâs the genuine article, and no mistake.â
âWell, Tomâs got the real article, if ever a fellow had,â rejoined the other. âWhy, last fall, I let him go to Cincinnati alone, to do business for me, and bring home five hundred dollars. âTom,â says I to him, âI trust you, because I think you are a ChristianâI know you wouldnât cheat.â Tom comes back, sure enough; I knew he would. Some low fellows, they say, said to him, âTom, why donât you make tracks for Canada?â âAh, master trusted me, and I couldnâtââthey told me about it. I am sorry to part with Tom, I must say. You ought to let him cover the whole balance of the debt; and you would, Haley, if you had any conscience.â
