To the First Slave Ship
by Lydia Sigourney
First of that train which cursed the wave,
And from the rifled cabin bore,
Inheritor of wo,—the slave
To bless his palm-tree’s shade no more, Continue reading To the First Slave Ship
Tag Archives: social commentary
Indian Names
Indian Names
by Lydia Sigourney
“How can the Red men be forgotten, while so many of our states and territories, bays, lakes and rivers, are indelibly stamped by the names of their giving?”
YE say they all have pass’d away,
That noble race and brave,
That their light canoes have vanish’d
From off the crested wave
That mid the forests where they roam’d
There rings no hunter’s shout;
But their name is on your waters,
Ye may not wash it out. Continue reading Indian Names
To the First of August.
To the First of August.
by Ann Plato
Britannia’s isles proclaim,
That freedom is their theme;
And we do view those honor’d lands,
With soul-delighting mien. Continue reading To the First of August.
The Natives of America
The Natives Of America
by Ann Plato
Tell me a story, father please,
And then I sat upon his knees.
Then answer’d he,—“what speech make known,
Or tell the words of native tone,
Of how my Indian fathers dwelt,
And, of sore oppression felt;
And how they mourned a land serene,
It was an ever mournful theme.” Continue reading The Natives of America
To The Young Wife
To The Young Wife
by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Are you content, you pretty three-years’ wife?
Are you content and satisfied to live
On what your loving husband loves to give,
And give to him your life? Continue reading To The Young Wife
Backlog Studies (Excerpts)
Backlog refers to the large piece of wood that supports the fire in a large fire place (and therefore lasts longest). In the beginning of the book, Warner expresses his fear that fireplaces are going out of style with the introduction of new technologies for heating homes and that the important things that happen around fireplaces are also destined to disappear, namely conversations with family and neighbors and the contemplation and reflection that fireplaces inspire. The book is a “study” or demonstration of the conversation that fireplaces inspire. Continue reading Backlog Studies (Excerpts)
Uncle Tom’s Cabin – Chapters 40, 41, 45
These are the final chapters and the climax of the novel.
CHAPTER XL
The Martyr
“Deem not the just by Heaven forgot!
Though life its common gifts deny,—
Though, with a crushed and bleeding heart,
And spurned of man, he goes to die!
For God hath marked each sorrowing day,
And numbered every bitter tear,
And heaven’s long years of bliss shall pay
For all his children suffer here.” BRYANT.[1] Continue reading Uncle Tom’s Cabin – Chapters 40, 41, 45
Uncle Tom’s Cabin – Chapters 28-31
The following chapters show once again how precarious the lives of the enslaved could be. While Augustine St. Clare finds himself ready to take action in his own life against the evils of slavery under a Christian conviction nurtured by Eva and by Tom, events coincide to complicate Tom’s life once again. In Chapter 31 we are introduced to Simon Legree, Tom’s third and final human master. Of the three, two are portrayed as “humane” and the third as a brute, but Stowe shows that kind master or evil, an enslaved human is at the mercy of a system that defines him as chattel.
CHAPTER XXVIII
Uncle Tom’s Cabin – Chapters 15, 16
Chapters 15 and 16 introduce Tom’s new owners, a New Orleans family by the name of St. Clare. Augustine St. Clare and his wife Marie have an angelic daughter named Eva, and Augustine’s cousin Ophelia has come from her home in New England to manage the household due to Marie’s apparent incapacity. The chapters illustrate the various attitudes toward slavery among slave holders, and through Ophelia, Stowe draws the consciences of readers in her native New England into the fray.
CHAPTER XV
Of Tom’s New Master, and Various Other Matters Continue reading Uncle Tom’s Cabin – Chapters 15, 16
Uncle Tom’s Cabin – Chapters 5, 7, 9, 12
Prior to Chapter 5, we are introduced to Mr. and Mrs. Shelby, farmers in Kentucky who own a fairly large estate and are presented as slaveholders who are kind to their enslaved workers. Eliza is the enslaved handmaid to Mrs. Shelby; she is light-skinned and is the mother of a young boy named Harry (her husband George Harris is enslaved on a neighboring farm). Chapter 4 introduces life in Uncle Tom’s cabin, where Tom, his wife Aunt Chloe, and their children live in the warmth of family and Christian devotion. We have also been introduced to Haley, a slave trader who has secured ownership of Shelby’s debt and is squeezing him to settle the account by selling some of his human property. The events in Chapter 5 illustrate how precarious the lives of “human property” can be even for those who live under “kind” masters.
from Uncle Tom’s Cabin
by Harriet Beecher Stowe
CHAPTER V
Showing the Feelings of Living Property on Changing Owners Continue reading Uncle Tom’s Cabin – Chapters 5, 7, 9, 12