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To the Task Force we present that this novel, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" should be the work of literature chosen for this time capsule. As a political theorist I believe this novel shows many political ideas. The novel is mainly about slavery, freedom, religion and human nature. Slavery is one of the biggest debates politicians are trying to settle during this period. To keep or abolish slavery is a big decision especially when slavery is helping America. Uncle Tom’s Cabin, written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, is a great novel. As the novel was being written "the economic, political, and cultural differences between Northern and Southern states had reached a crisis point. The issue in Congress in 1820 (Missouri Compromise) and now again in 1850 (upon gaining new territory in the Mexican War) was whether to admit new western states as slave or free states, thus determining the balance of power between the two rival sections of the nation. Congress attempted a compromise in 1850 that included items intended to appease both North and South, the most controversial of which was a strengthened Fugitive Slave Act." This novel was written against slavery (especially The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850). It showed how cruel people were to slaves and how they were not looked upon as humans but as animals. This brings up the Declaration of Independence. It is quoted that "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." If this was true then wouldn't slaves be free too because it does point that "ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL" but no, slavery still remained after the Declaration of Independence. One politician argued that the quote "all men are created equal" was not referring to African Americans or slaves.
 * //__Uncle Tom's Cabin __//** Political Theorist (Assil Farhat)

This novel woke up the whole nation, whether it made citizens see how bad slavery was or according to the south made them see how the story was unrealistic. It is said that "The strength of Uncle Tom's Cabin is its ability to illustrate slavery's effect on families, and to help readers empathize with enslaved characters. Stowe's characters freely debated the causes of slavery, the Fugitive Slave Law, the future of freed people, what an individual could do, and racism." It is also said that this great novel was a big "contributor to the Civil War". The Civil War was a war against the free northern states and the southern slave states. "Uncle Tom's Cabin contributed to the outbreak of war by personalizing the political and economic arguments about slavery. Stowe's informal, conversational writing style inspired people in a way that political speeches, tracts and newspapers accounts could not." As a result northerner allowed fugitive slaves to stay in the north without trouble but this made the south furious which led to this war. As the war was happening, President Abraham Lincoln made the Emancipation Proclamation. "The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free. Although the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery in the nation, it captured the hearts and imagination of millions of Americans and fundamentally transformed the character of the war." This novel deserves to be in the time capsule for it's importance and significance in history. This novel sparked the American Civil War and helped create freedom for African America Slaves. It opened the eyes of citizens to see the truth behind slavery. It created many controversies but helped save America from being inhuman. It helped create historical documents. It helped change the minds of white Americans and it gave a woman a voice that was heard throughout the whole nation.  Sources:
 * http://www.harrietbeecherstowecenter.org/utc/impact.shtml
 * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence#Slavery_and_the_Declaration
 * http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/emancipation_proclamation/
 * http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma02/harris/utc/lesson1.html
 * http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/sitemap.html

**//__Uncle Tom’s Cabin __//** Graphic Specialist (Bianca Portal)

Interior courtyard, where captive Africans were assembled, and "Gate of No Return," the passageway through which they were led to the beach and from there to slaving vessels waiting offshore. (Photographed by Michael Tuite in Ghana; Aug. 1999) (http://hitchcool.its.virgina. edu/Slavery/index.php) This image is a composite of 4 separate maps published in Curtin. The four maps show the numbers of slaves transported from Africa to New World areas over the period 1451-1870; thickness of arrows indicates numbers of enslaved to each major area. Although the numbers in this map would be different in light of more recent statistics, the map still gives a graphic idea of the relative intensity of the Atlantic slave trade to New World areas through time. (http://hitchcool.its.virgina. edu/Slavery/index.php) Men, women, children linked by wooden yokes and chains; African guards carry guns. (http://hitchcook.its.virgiba. edu/Slavery/index.php)

Arab raiders, eager to obtain slaves and ivory, chasing and slaying members of the West African Benecki, who attempted to flee into the forest. (http://hitchcook.its.virgina. edu/Slavery/index.php) A healer trying to cure a client of some illness, using her spiritual powers. (http://hitchcook.its.virgina. edu/Slavery/index.php)

View of Orange Cemetery, at the outskirts of the city. The priest, the gravedigger, men and women slaves in mourning clothes; barely visible in the background is a funeral procession, with participants dressed in white (http://hitchcook.its.virgina. edu/Slavery/index.php)

Primary School for Freedmen, in charge of Mrs. Green, at Vicksburg, Mississippi (http://hitchcook.its.virgina. edu/Slavery/index.php)

All of these pictures represent what humanity has done to the African people. Humanity have taken them from their homes, captured them and forced them into slavery. Humanity have taken men, women, and children and brought them to a life of sadness, hopelessness, and terror. Uncle Tom's Cabin doesn't want this for humanity. He wants the African people, and later on African American people, to be free in the new world. Uncle Tom wants for slavery to be no more and that the people, meaning the African Americans, can be prosperous and educated. so that not only will the white people be the only ones making money and looking nice towards society but that the African Americans can as well.

**//__ Uncle Tom's Cabin __//** History (Jose Pesantez)



The story of Uncle Toms Cabin is an amazing novel that was one of the founding steps for the outbreak of the Civil War. The novel was published on 1852 just a few years before the outbreak of the war. Uncles Tom Cabin went onto becoming the best selling novel of the 19th Century. This book was a tool for many abolitionists. The book took an immediate impact upon people. Many people from the North began reading this and could not believe this. In 3 years, after it was published the book was now considered the best book of their time. Not only that but, after being published, the book ignited a number of small protests demanding the end of slavery.

Many Historians consider this book as very important stepping stone for the outbreak of the war. Some say without this book the war could have been put on hold for a few years. Many people from the South, upon reading this claimed it was "fake" or not true. The novel caused tensions to grow between the North and South.

Overall, Uncle Tom's Cabin caused an outrage and a demand to abolish slavery. It did not take long before a war to begin and splitting the North and South. Thanks to this book, many Northerners were aware of the condition these people were in and creating small mobs to try to stop it. This was by far one of the most influential pieces of literature of the 19th Century.