Uncle Tom's Cabin Lesson Plan

Thus far, what responses do you have to these portrayals of black, enslaved characters by Stowe, a white and free writer?

Some students may feel that many of Stowe's characterizations—particularly of minor characters, like Aunt Chloe, Andy, and Sam—call upon old and cartoonish stereotypes. Others may observe the wide range of black characters immediately present in the book, from a pious and uneducated man like Tom to an educated woman like Eliza and a mechanical innovator like George to a clever clown like Sam. Some students might note that characters named as biracial or as "quadroons" tend to speak in a more "standardized" dialect than that of characters described as...