Uncle Tom's Cabin Full Text

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Chapter 1

In Which the Reader Is Introduced to a Man of HumanityLate in the afternoon of a chilly day in February, two gentlemen were sitting alone over their wine, in a well-furnished dining parlor, in the...

Chapter 2

The MotherEliza had been brought up by her mistress, from girlhood, as a petted and indulged favorite.The traveller in the south must often have remarked that peculiar air of refinement, that softn...

Chapter 3

The Husband and FatherMrs. Shelby had gone on her visit, and Eliza stood in the verandah, rather dejectedly looking after the retreating carriage, when a hand was laid on her shoulder. She turned,...

Chapter 4

An Evening in Uncle Tom's CabinThe cabin of Uncle Tom was a small log building, close adjoining to "the house," as the negro _par excellence_ designates his master's dwelling. In front it had a nea...

Chapter 5

Showing the Feelings of Living Property on Changing OwnersMr. and Mrs. Shelby had retired to their apartment for the night. He was lounging in a large easy-chair, looking over some letters that had...

Chapter 6

DiscoveryMr. and Mrs. Shelby, after their protracted discussion of the night before, did not readily sink to repose, and, in consequence, slept somewhat later than usual, the ensuing morning."I won...

Chapter 7

The Mother's StruggleIt is impossible to conceive of a human creature more wholly desolate and forlorn than Eliza, when she turned her footsteps from Uncle Tom's cabin.Her husband's suffering and d...

Chapter 8

Eliza's EscapeEliza made her desperate retreat across the river just in the dusk of twilight. The gray mist of evening, rising slowly from the river, enveloped her as she disappeared up the bank, a...

Chapter 9

In Which It Appears That a Senator Is But a ManThe light of the cheerful fire shone on the rug and carpet of a cosey parlor, and glittered on the sides of the tea-cups and well-brightened tea-pot,...

Chapter 10

The Property Is Carried OffThe February morning looked gray and drizzling through the window of Uncle Tom's cabin. It looked on downcast faces, the images of mournful hearts. The little table stood...

Chapter 11

In Which Property Gets into an Improper State of MindIt was late in a drizzly afternoon that a traveler alighted at the door of a small country hotel, in the village of N----, in Kentucky. In the b...

Chapter 12

Select Incident of Lawful Trade"In Ramah there was a voice heard,--weeping, and lamentation, and great mourning; Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted."** Jer. 31:15.Mr. Haley...

Chapter 13

The Quaker SettlementA quiet scene now rises before us. A large, roomy, neatly-painted kitchen, its yellow floor glossy and smooth, and without a particle of dust; a neat, well-blacked cooking-stov...

Chapter 14

Evangeline"A young star! which shone O'er life--too sweet an image, for such glass! A lovely being, scarcely formed or moulded; A rose with all its sweetest leaves yet folded."The Mississippi! How,...

Chapter 15

Of Tom's New Master, and Various Other MattersSince the thread of our humble hero's life has now become interwoven with that of higher ones, it is necessary to give some brief introduction to them....

Chapter 16

Tom's Mistress and Her Opinions"And now, Marie," said St. Clare, "your golden days are dawning. Here is our practical, business-like New England cousin, who will take the whole budget of cares off...

Chapter 17

The Freeman's DefenceThere was a gentle bustle at the Quaker house, as the afternoon drew to a close. Rachel Halliday moved quietly to and fro, collecting from her household stores such needments a...

Chapter 18

Miss Ophelia's Experiences and OpinionsOur friend Tom, in his own simple musings, often compared his more fortunate lot, in the bondage into which he was cast, with that of Joseph in Egypt; and, in...

Chapter 19

Miss Ophelia's Experiences and Opinions Continued"Tom, you needn't get me the horses. I don't want to go," she said."Why not, Miss Eva?""These things sink into my heart, Tom," said Eva,--"they sink...

Chapter 20

TopsyOne morning, while Miss Ophelia was busy in some of her domestic cares, St. Clare's voice was heard, calling her at the foot of the stairs."Come down here, Cousin, I've something to show you."...

Chapter 21

KentuckOur readers may not be unwilling to glance back, for a brief interval, at Uncle Tom's Cabin, on the Kentucky farm, and see what has been transpiring among those whom he had left behind.It wa...

Chapter 22

"The Grass Withereth--the Flower Fadeth"Life passes, with us all, a day at a time; so it passed with our friend Tom, till two years were gone. Though parted from all his soul held dear, and though...

Chapter 23

HenriqueAbout this time, St. Clare's brother Alfred, with his eldest son, a boy of twelve, spent a day or two with the family at the lake.No sight could be more singular and beautiful than that of...

Chapter 24

ForeshadowingsTwo days after this, Alfred St. Clare and Augustine parted; and Eva, who had been stimulated, by the society of her young cousin, to exertions beyond her strength, began to fail rapid...

Chapter 25

The Little EvangelistIt was Sunday afternoon. St. Clare was stretched on a bamboo lounge in the verandah, solacing himself with a cigar. Marie lay reclined on a sofa, opposite the window opening on...

Chapter 26

DeathWeep not for those whom the veil of the tomb, In life's early morning, hath hid from our eyes.* * "Weep Not for Those," a poem by Thomas Moore (1779-1852). Eva's bed-room was a spacious ap...

Chapter 27

"This Is the Last of Earth"** "This is the last of Earth! I am content," last words of John Quincy Adams, uttered February 21, 1848.The statuettes and pictures in Eva's room were shrouded in white...

Chapter 28

ReunionWeek after week glided away in the St. Clare mansion, and the waves of life settled back to their usual flow, where that little bark had gone down. For how imperiously, how coolly, in disreg...

Chapter 29

The UnprotectedWe hear often of the distress of the negro servants, on the loss of a kind master; and with good reason, for no creature on God's earth is left more utterly unprotected and desolate...

Chapter 30

The Slave WarehouseA slave warehouse! Perhaps some of my readers conjure up horrible visions of such a place. They fancy some foul, obscure den, some horrible _Tartarus "informis, ingens, cui lumen...

Chapter 31

The Middle Passage"Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look upon iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked dev...

Chapter 32

Dark Places"The dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty."** Ps. 74:20.Trailing wearily behind a rude wagon, and over a ruder road, Tom and his associates faced onward.In the...

Chapter 33

Cassy"And behold, the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power, but they had no comforter."--ECCL. 4:1It took but a short time...

Chapter 34

The Quadroon's StoryAnd behold the tears of such as are oppressed; and on the side of their oppressors there was power. Wherefore I praised the dead that are already dead more than the living that...

Chapter 35

The Tokens"And slight, withal, may be the things that bring Back on the heart the weight which it would fling Aside forever; it may be a sound, A flower, the wind, the ocean, which shall wound,-- S...

Chapter 36

Emmeline and CassyCassy entered the room, and found Emmeline sitting, pale with fear, in the furthest corner of it. As she came in, the girl started up nervously; but, on seeing who it was, rushed...

Chapter 37

Liberty"No matter with what solemnities he may have been devoted upon the altar of slavery, the moment he touches the sacred soil of Britain, the altar and the God sink together in the dust, and he...

Chapter 38

The Victory"Thanks be unto God, who giveth us the victory."** I Cor. 15:57.Have not many of us, in the weary way of life, felt, in some hours, how far easier it were to die than to live?The martyr,...

Chapter 39

The Stratagem"The way of the wicked is as darkness; he knoweth not at what he stumbleth."** Prov. 4:19.The garret of the house that Legree occupied, like most other garrets, was a great, desolate s...

Chapter 40

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...

Chapter 41

The Young MasterTwo days after, a young man drove a light wagon up through the avenue of China trees, and, throwing the reins hastily on the horse's neck, sprang out and inquired for the owner of t...

Chapter 42

An Authentic Ghost StoryFor some remarkable reason, ghostly legends were uncommonly rife, about this time, among the servants on Legree's place.It was whisperingly asserted that footsteps, in the d...

Chapter 43

ResultsThe rest of our story is soon told. George Shelby, interested, as any other young man might be, by the romance of the incident, no less than by feelings of humanity, was at the pains to send...

Chapter 44

The LiberatorGeorge Shelby had written to his mother merely a line, stating the day that she might expect him home. Of the death scene of his old friend he had not the heart to write. He had tried...

Chapter 45

Concluding RemarksThe writer has often been inquired of, by correspondents from different parts of the country, whether this narrative is a true one; and to these inquiries she will give one genera...