I was very curious the other day listening to a program on the radio that kept referring to well-known, accomplished African Americans as "Uncle Toms". This may sound odd because it is a term that many of us have heard all of our lives. I thought I knew what the connotation meant (African Americans who have "sold out" their cultural identity in order to succeed in business or academia, African Americans who "fit in" to "regular society") For some reason on this particular day, I decided I should read the book to gain insight and understanding into the psyche of my fellow man. I promptly ordered the unabridged version off of Amazon, and eagerly awaited the little box's arrival on my doorstep.
The first scenes of the story unfold in the state of Kentucky, and I am introduced to the Shelby family. Affluent plantation owners, however only in opulence do they stand affluent. In truth we learn that Mr. Shelby is in debt. So much so that he cannot afford to continue his family's lifestyle without selling some of his assets. The most valuable things he has to leverage are his slaves. They will bring in enough money to pay off his debts and keep his plantation running smoothly. The only problem in Mr. Shelby's mind is that the man who sits in front of him is a "filthy trader" from the South. The "filthy trader" has Mr. Shelby at an advantage because he knows of the enormous debt Mr. Shelby owes. He begins negotiating for Mr. Shelby's best slave and one of the house maid's children. This best slave that will fetch upwards of $1,500.00 is of course Uncle Tom. Uncle Tom is what Mr. Shelby's children call this slave and his wife is affectionately known as Aunt Chloe. As you can imagine a sum of $1,500.00 in the early 1800's was an enormous amount of money, probably the equivalent of $500,000.00 in today's dollars. So now we know just what a lucrative business slave trading was. There was big money to be made; and the Good Book says that the love of money is the root of all evil.
The story follows Uncle Tom's situation as he is sold from family to family, and in the end finds himself owned by a cruel plantation owner, who beats his slaves and works them to death. They say a good strong man only lasts a couple of years at this plantation because the conditions are so severe. Uncle Tom eventually does die at this horrible place just one day before his old Master, Mr. Shelby's son, arrives to buy him back. A very sad ending indeed. However along the way, some of the other characters do escape to Canada via the Underground Railroad, and we are privy to the conditions along that route as well in Mrs. Stowe's novel. Those characters are chased down like animals but do narrowly escape and find sanctuary in an Amish community that sees to their safe passage North.
Other than that very basic story line, the novel is riddled with long sermons from the writer, very much of the Christian persuasion. She uses the dialogue of the different characters to preach incessantly about the evils of slavery and the slave trade. I applaud her efforts, as her book is credited by Abraham Lincoln himself as having started the Civil War.
Now let me state very emphatically here that I am ashamed of our Country's history of slave trading and slave ownership. Obviously the denial of any man's right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is tantamount to my own beliefs. I don't want anyone to confuse my next points with the notion that I somehow approve of slavery or persecution in any way, because I do not!
With that said, I do have some rather enlightening things to point out. First of all, did you know that Harriet Elizabeth Beecher Stowe was born and raised in Connecticut? Did you know that she was the daughter of a prominent, college educated Minister? Did you know that Miss Beecher was given an excellent education, and went on to college herself and graduated? (less than 1% of young women went to college, much less graduated in the 1800's) Did you know that she married a Professor and moved with him to Ohio after they were married? In Ohio as an adult is the FIRST time she became aware of the cruelty of slavery. Did you know that her and her husband owned several homes, one of them being a place in Florida? Did you know that Harriet never visited the South much less lived there until after the Civil War had ended? (Remember that Florida winter cottage, she was a snow bird in later years)
Is it just me or is Mrs. Stowe starting to sound like a privileged, wealthy, white woman who is good with a pen? My point in all this is that she was the "liberal, bleeding heart elitist" of her day. However one HUGE difference in Mrs. Stowe and the average liberal of today was the fact that she was very well educated. Universities in the 1800's were nothing at all like the expensive babysitting service they are today! Another very prominent difference is the fact that she was an ardent pro-life Christian who thought it was her duty to spread the Gospel to every living creature, and see them saved by the Blood of the Lamb. In contrast today's liberals are Godless, even anti-religious zealots who do not cherish life at it's most vulnerable. These two differences alone give me great respect for what Mrs. Stowe was trying to do with her abolitionist book. She was the poster girl for abolitionist protesters. Although I approve of the ultimate result of slavery being abolished, I am quite amazed with the notion that her literary work was taken so seriously as to start a war that killed more Americans than other war before or since. It took so many American lives to see this unholy chapter in history closed. (another difference, I'm sure she was very pro-war) And it all was based on a book that was written by a woman who had no first-hand knowledge or experience with the southern plantation owner or the slave trade. Her entire book was based on second hand stories that she heard from people who had visited Kentucky. Is that ridiculous or what!?!?
My point being, such are the liberals of today! They conjure up campaign after campaign against pro-life organizations. They shout louder and louder that the Earth and all in it are to be utterly destroyed if we do not stop this vile thing we call living! They preach vegan ism and solar energy like these things alone will save us. It is insane I tell you, insane!! They sit in College classes and tell the students there is no God, they insult our intelligence with their big bang theory and evolution. They act like going to war with anyone for any reason is absolutely wrong, and anyone who believes otherwise is a thug warmonger. They say have compassion and acceptance for the homosexual but hurl absolutely vile evil words at anyone who thinks homosexuality is wrong, or at the very least a problem in society. They do all of these things without ever actually investigating the issues they hold so dear. They say that they speak truth to power, but only the truth that they know to be true. The state of the uninformed liberal of today is a sad one indeed, but what is worse....people read their unsubstantiated books, articles and pamphlets, and take them for gospel. They are as dangerous to society today as Mrs. Stowe's book was dangerous to to the institution of slavery. And like I said before, the difference is that Mrs. Stowe was writing her piece of unsubstantiated fiction for a good and noble cause; the cause of freedom for all mankind. (although, she did want all of the slaves once freed to be sent back to Africa on the American governments dime, thought you'd find that little tid-bit enlightening as well)Her cause was one that called for an end to evil and injustice to a sector of humanity. Her cause was a righteous cause that she openly prayed to God about and asked that He intervene in the dealings of humanity. Today's liberal causes are none such cases. None are noble or Godly or just. In the end the liberal causes of today if instituted, will be the undoing of the greatest society ever to walk planet earth. Be very afraid at all the loud noises you hear today, and please pray and ask God to intervene in the dealings of humanity once again.
As for the whole "Uncle Tom" thing, I'm not sure now that I know what it means to called one. Uncle Tom was a very good man who had the misfortune of being born black in pre-civil war America. He was a devoted Christian and family man. He always chose to do what was right and necessary even when it was not in his best interest. In the end he died to protect others. So now, I think that it would be flattering to be compared with Uncle Tom in any way, as he was a better person than I. Go figure!
**portrait of Harriet Beecher Stowe
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