Violence In Antebellum America

In antebellum America, abolitionists used a variety of tactics to achieve their ends, from calling for violence to appealing to religious sentiments—often even combining the two approaches. Many abolitionists such as John Brown and David Walker foresaw that any dismantling of the South’s “peculiar institution” would foment bloodshed. In his Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World, David Walker writes that only after “my color [has rooted] some of them out of the very face of the earth…they shall have enough of making slaves of, and butchering, and murdering us in the manner which they have” (115). For David Walker, it seemed only natural that slavery, because of its intrinsically violent nature, would come to a violent end. Likewise,
In many ways Beecher Stowe’s more moderate method was a success and her novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin was extremely popular. In the work, Stowe was able to showcase the virtues of Uncle Tom, a slave, while condemning Legree, a slave owner to suffer as a sinner. In a dramatic, Jesuslike moment, Uncle Tom proclaims, “Mas’r, if you was sick, or in trouble, or dying, and I could save ye, I’d give ye my heart’s blood…don’t bring this great sin on your soul…if ye don’t repent, [your troubles] won’t never end!” (146). In her portrayal of both Uncle Tom and Legree, Beecher Stowe is hoping to demonstrate how slavery is damaging and dangerous for not only the slaves but the slave owners, who, if they are not confronted by the violence that John Brown and David Walker entreat for, will surely be punished in the afterlife. Beecher Stowe’s Christlike portrayal of Uncle Tom was also an effort to devaluate the harsh slave codes of the South and mitigate the widespread fear that upon being freed, slaves would rise up and repay their former masters in