Hello, my name is Harriet Beecher Stowe, and I am an enthusiastic activist in the fight against slavery. I believe that the enslavement of fellow human beings is inhumane, wrong, and injust. "The enslav[ement] of the African race is a clear violation of the great law ["all men are created equal"] which commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves." I have always disapproved of the slave institution, but when the Missouri Compromise and Fugitive Slave Acts of 1850 were signed into effect, I was outraged.
I wanted to change the country, I wanted to "write something that would make this whole nation [see] what an accursed thing slavery is," and so I did. In 1852, I published Uncle Tom's Cabin, a tale exposing the evils of slavery, and it became an instant bestseller. "I wrote what I did because as a woman, as a mother, I was oppressed and broken-hearted with the sorrows and injustice I saw because as a Christian I felt the dishonor to Christianity--because as a lover of my county, I trembled at the coming day of wrath." People across the country are now demanding America deliver on her age-old promise of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" for all.
But no matter how far the abolition movement has come, it has not affected the present system of government very much thus far; slavery is still not abolished. We cannot achieve social justice under the present legislature. A good society would come about from the abolishment of slavery and by the common people's participation in social and government affairs.
I wanted to change the country, I wanted to "write something that would make this whole nation [see] what an accursed thing slavery is," and so I did. In 1852, I published Uncle Tom's Cabin, a tale exposing the evils of slavery, and it became an instant bestseller. "I wrote what I did because as a woman, as a mother, I was oppressed and broken-hearted with the sorrows and injustice I saw because as a Christian I felt the dishonor to Christianity--because as a lover of my county, I trembled at the coming day of wrath." People across the country are now demanding America deliver on her age-old promise of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" for all.
But no matter how far the abolition movement has come, it has not affected the present system of government very much thus far; slavery is still not abolished. We cannot achieve social justice under the present legislature. A good society would come about from the abolishment of slavery and by the common people's participation in social and government affairs.
2 comments:
It is good to see one who works for the good of in all in the name of the Christian faith. I too am a devout Christian. "In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government ought to be instructed... . No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people." God bless you and your noble work against slavery.
-Noah Webster.
Harriet Beecher Stowe is strongly believe in your idea of anti slavery. My name is Arthur Tappan and I am against slavery. I've been a philantripist since 1830 supporting and creating anti-slavery campaigns. Hust like you I was outraged about the pro slavery legislation that was passed. So my brother and I decided that I will not abide by that law and I will support the underground railroad.
God bless you and your efforts agianst slavery.
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