Uncle Tom's Cabin

American  

noun

1. an antislavery novel (1852) by Harriet Beecher Stowe.

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Uncle Tom's Cabin Cultural  

1. (1852) A novel, first published serially, by Harriet Beecher Stowe; it paints a grim picture of life under slavery. The title character is a pious, passive slave, who is eventually beaten to death by the overseer Simon Legree.

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Published shortly before the Civil War, Uncle Tom's Cabin won support for the antislavery cause.

Although Stowe presents Uncle Tom as a virtuous man, the expression “Uncle Tom” is often used as a term of reproach for a subservient black person who tolerates discrimination.

Example Sentences

Or as Caviezel puts it in his post-credits message: “I think we can make Sound of Freedom the Uncle Tom’s Cabin of 21st-century slavery.”

From Slate • Jul. 13, 2023

Montgomery buys home that inspired novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin"

From Washington Post • Feb. 25, 2022

Anti-slavery activists sang Foster's music, and theater troupes inserted "My Old Kentucky Home" into theatrical productions of "Uncle Tom's Cabin."

From Salon • May 1, 2021

I lived in my imagination a lot, and I loved to read: Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Moby-Dick, Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

From The Guardian • Oct. 12, 2019

The serial was so popular, it was later published as the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the greatest publishing sensation of the nineteenth century.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock