A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin: Presenting the original facts and documents upon which the story is founded. Together with corroborative statements verifying the truth of the work.Stowe, Harriet Beecher
History
A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin: Presenting the original facts and documents upon which the story is founded. Together with corroborative statements verifying the truth of the work.
Stowe, Harriet Beecher
Enslaved persons -- United States -- Social conditions; Literature and society -- United States -- History -- 19th century; Political fiction -- Sources; Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896. Uncle Tom's cabin -- Sources; Uncle Tom (Fictitious character)
As a specimen of some of the incidents thus developed, is given the
following fact of recent occurrence, related to the author by a lady in
Boston. This lady, who was much in the habit of visiting the poor, was
sent for, a month or two since, to see a mulatto woman who had just
arrived at a colored boarding-house near by, and who appeared to be in
much dejection of mind. A little conversation showed her to be a
fugitive. Her history was as follows: She, with her brother, were, as is
often the case, both the children and slaves of their master. At his
death they were left to his legitimate daughter as her servants, and
treated with as much consideration as very common kind of people might
be expected to show to those who were entirely and in every respect at
their disposal.
The wife of her brother ran away to Canada; and as there was some talk
of selling her and her child, in consequence of some embarrassment in
the family affairs, her brother, a fine-spirited young man, determined
to effect her escape, also, to a land of liberty. He concealed her for
some time in the back part of an obscure dwelling in the city, till he
could find an opportunity to send her off. While she was in this
retreat, he was indefatigable in his attentions to her, frequently
bringing her fruit and flowers, and doing everything he could to beguile
the weariness of her imprisonment.
At length, the steward of a vessel, whom he had obliged, offered to
conceal him on board the ship, and give him a chance to escape. The
noble-hearted fellow, though tempted by an offer which would enable him
immediately to join his wife, to whom he was tenderly attached,
preferred to give this offer to his sister, and during the absence of
the captain of the vessel she and her child were brought on board and
secreted.
The captain, when he returned and discovered what had been done, was
very angry, as the thing, if detected, would have involved him in very
serious difficulties. He declared, at first, that he would send the
woman up into town to jail; but, by her entreaties and those of the
steward, was induced to wait till evening, and send word to her brother
to come and take her back. After dark the brother came on board, and,
instead of taking his sister away, began to appeal to the humanity of
the captain in the most moving terms. He told his sister’s history and
his own, and pleaded eloquently his desire for her liberty. The captain
had determined to be obdurate, but, alas! he was only a man. Perhaps he
had himself a wife and child,—perhaps he felt that, were he in the young
man’s case, he would do just so for his sister. Be it as it may, he was
at last overcome. He said to the young man, “I must send you away from
my ship; I’ll put off a boat and see you got into it, and you must row
off, and never let me see your faces again; and if, after all, you
should come back and get on board, it will be your fault, and not mine.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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