Textual Background

For my for my textual background and context section of the Race and American Novel project, I will be focusing on the third image in the historical context section of our edition of Uncle tom’s’ Cabin by Harriet beecher Stowe (that being the Norton critical edition 2nd ed.) and edited by Elizabeth Ammons. The Title of this poster is Announcement of slave sale, out of Lexington, Kentucky 1885. The first real sight of dehumanization is iminate of the fact that there is a sale of humans as property, however, that is a given. What is really eye-catching however, is how the slaves are described, particularly, the males. They are described as “bucks” for sale, insinuating that they are cattle and nothing more. This is strengthened by the sub text underneath the title stating “All raised on the Carter plantation”. It is also interesting to see how the women are portrayed. They are stated as “wench’s” and have listed their age and various skill. While this in and of itself isn’t dehumanising (other than humans being sold as property), wench is automatically derivative of “servant”. This sheds a great amount of light to my understanding of UTC and the situation that it presents. This is most true in chapter 30 “The slave Warehouse” in which Uncle Tom, along with many other slaves from the St. Clare estate were to be sold to the highest bidder. On page 297, Stowe writes “Then you shall be courteous entreated to call and examine, and shall find an abundance of husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, and young children, to be ‘sold separately, or in lots to suit the convenience of the purchaser’”, which only strengthens the argument that slavery has to dehumanize the slave. If an advertisement was put up stating that they were selling members of families separate or together at buyers convenience, it might grow on the conscience of the buyer or simple the passer by that happens to see the advertisement, and the whole system might start to collapse. Instead they advertise such as in the poster seen in on page 413 in order make them seem less human and more cattle-like.