American Literature from its Origins to the Nineteenth Century.

INTERVIEW to HARRIET BEECHER STOWE.

“Uncle Tom's Cabin”

Juan José Taberner Rafter.

The following is an interview which took place between myself, as a freelance journalist
and Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, at her home in Brunswick, Maine, on the 23rd October
1885. Due to the great success of her book “Uncle Tom’s cabin”, and the controversy
raised in the aftermath, I thought is important to hear her points of view on different
matters.

INTERVIEW

1) Excuse me for bringing to your memory the death of your son Samuel, who died of
typhus at such a young age, but would you say that his death is crucial in the mother's
gaze that is reflected in the character of Eliza, who even didn’t thought on giving her
own life to save her own son by launching herself to his aid in the frozen river?
• The death of my son provoked in me the greatest of sorrows, and without a doubt
this character shows the immeasurable love of a mother for her son, a love that
is capable of going beyond life and reason. So many mothers have been separated
from their children for no reason, and the pain has been so deep in so many
mothers and children that I hope they have served to move my readers and raise
awareness about the protection we should give to women and children in our
society.

2) Uncle Tom travels on the boat with Evangelina, who conveys these biblical messages
of hope, and at the same time I can't stop thinking about the influence of the Gospel
and the Bible on your own life. Dear Harriet, how important is the religious aspect
in your narrative?
• All of us as Americans have made a journey to these our beloved lands, and just
as the Jews had to traverse great and desolate desert areas to reach the promised
land, we as Americans must also suffer, learn, and be thankful for this Christian
 life that allows us to be God's elect on earth. It is through the Gospel and this
constant journey in life that as Christians we are obliged to live, that we can find
the reason for our existence.

3) You had blacks working in your home, do you think you can associate this with
slavery as well? Don't you think you could also, just as the son of Shelby’s master
did in returning home and freeing all his black workers, thus preaching by example?
• Yes, I have had blacks working in my home, but not enslaved, on the contrary I
have always treated them with the utmost respect and offered the protection they
deserved. You ask me if I should release the black people who work in my home,
and I wonder, to release them from what?. It is precisely from these people that I
have learned the best human values and it is their stories that I wanted to convey
in my book in a way that reaches the hearts and understanding of my readers.

4) There are criticisms from some readers regarding the exaggerated tone of kindness,
almost of holiness, that you give the character of Uncle Tom. What do you think of
these criticisms?
• I can accept all the criticisms of literary experts, but many other experts also
agree with me regarding the need to exalt with the utmost kindness my black
characters. People who have suffered as slaves have done in this country, deserve
the highest praise, and it is no less true that in the ancient literature of Greeks and
Romans, the main characters were endowed with powers super human powers,
and the use of these resources has never been questioned to get people to feel and
like these characters who fulfilled an indoctrinating and teaching function
regarding the origins of these civilizations. We are a nation still in its infancy,
and I feel it a duty to make visible the human values of the slaves who live with
us, and who are an essential part of the construction of the United States.

5) Is it right to turn the other cheek like Uncle Tom does, when he refuses to let the girl
be punished in the book since she hasn't picked enough cotton? Why didn't you create
an aggressive character who frees himself from the chains, and kills his torturers?
• Uncle Tom is a black slave, who like many other slaves, especially in the
southern states, give their lives on many occasions in defense of others, whether
 of fellow slaves, women or children, and I do not think that this is far from reality
at all.
Black slaves have seldom come to hurt or kill their white owners, many consider
that this is due to lack of courage, but I, on the contrary, believe that it may be
more related to their values and kindness. That the main character of my work
was aggressive and achieved through violence his freedom, could be valued
positively by some of my readers, but not by all. I consider that the actions in my
work transmit in a better way how to understand the need for freedom that these
human beings feel. It is in our hands, in the hands of all of us as American
citizens, to help recover the dignity of these human beings, taken away in a very
cruel way for our own benefit.

6) The son of Shelby’s master arrives at the hacienda right when Uncle Tom is dying
and asks him if he has suffered a lot. He says he hasn’t because he is happy to go
with God. Do you consider slaves people with a soul and with access to the Kingdom
of Heaven as ourselves?
• I have no doubt about the existence of Christian souls and values in black slaves,
nor about the existence of a God who loves all creatures on earth and who he
himself created. The first thing we have to address as a society is the humane
treatment that these beings deserve, regarding the type of soul or access to the
Kingdom of Heaven, I think is an assessment and conversation for which we are
not yet prepared.

7) The son of Shelby’s master moved by the death of Uncle Tom returns home and frees
all his slaves. What is necessary to move everyone in the same way and thus free
these slaves in the United States of America?
• This is perhaps the most important point in my book, the moment of the climax
that enlightens the mind of the son of Shelby’s master, who through this painful
moment is able to measure the horrors and torments that Uncle Tom has suffered
throughout his life. When God manages to touch our hearts and enlighten our
minds, we are better able to perform the best deeds with our neighbors. How
different the life of this slave would have been if perhaps he had been given his
freedom by this Shelby’s master. That is why the action of this master, is a clear
example of what every American can do in case of owning slaves. For me it was
 very helpful to be able to talk and understand the pain of these people, and with
God's help to be able to transmit at least to my readers the need to generate a
change in our society in favor of these human beings.

8) Do you think it is sensible to free all the slaves of the southern states. Do you not
think that this would seriously affect the Union of all the states economically, leading
us to ruin?
• There would be no problems if, by freeing all the slaves, they were given a job
in decent and remunerated conditions. Wealth and great profits would continue
to be generated for the owners themselves. On the other hand, they would also
wash away their sins and perhaps receive God's divine forgiveness.

9) We are colonizers of this beloved land of ours, and our belief as puritans has helped
us achieve great goals. Do you think that the death of so many slaves will ever make
any sense to our country?
• I firmly believe in God and in the motive that brought us to these lands. Without
a doubt our nation exists thanks to the sacrifice of all these slaves. I would even
say that thanks to them we are and will be the predominant nation on earth.
Thanks to their deaths many of us have understood the sacrifice that freedom
cost. This way of understanding freedom as an individual and as a nation I am
sure will be transmitted generation to generation and that it will be an example
for other nations, understanding the importance of the human being as Jesus
Christ showed us. Jesus himself being a clear example of this. Wasn't Jesus
himself a human being mistreated and tortured to death by men? Just like the
character in my book, Uncle Tom suffered. I hope and desire that all this great
human sacrifice will bring as a reward divine protection over our earth that the
word of God will thus spread to all the nations of the world.

10) Precisely when Uncle Tom is tortured by Simon Legree, he says to his torturer: “you
can bend my body but not my soul and spirit”, he even assures him that if the
condition was the opposite and it was his torturer who was about to die, he would
still give his blood for him. Don't you think you equate too much the figure of a black
person to a black Jesus these words and ideas being totally reprehensible and profane
 to the Bible? What would his father think about equating this slave to the figure of
Jesus?
• Of course my father would not agree with the idea of a black slave character
acquiring the figure of Jesus Christ. I don’t either, but that doesn't stop me from
giving Christian values to a character in my book. Jesus gave his life for all men
for the forgiveness of sins. Perhaps you are comparing the death of a black slave,
such as Uncle Tom, to these human beings with a redemption for the rest of men,
who for so many years have been torturing these black slaves to death. In this
sense it is possible that our souls need divine salvation in the face of the atrocities
and mortal sins that we have committed for generations. Thus, it is not I who
turns the slave into Jesus, but the reader who, in understanding the sacrifice he
makes in giving his life, Uncle Tom confers moral and religious values perhaps
even closer to the figure of Jesus, and I will not be the one to judge the
imagination of my reader.

11) After the death in 1849 of your son Samuel, taking into account the need to generate
income for a household with more children, and knowing that your husband in his
job as a teacher does not exactly generate a great income, we understand that this
situation led you to write this powerful work of yours, and that it has brought you
important economic benefits. Do you think it's fair that this money is under your
husband's control?
• My husband and I are one in our marriage and although the economic needs and
the death of my son have been sufficient reasons to promote the creation of this
book, it is no less true that I have openly criticized the situation of women
regarding the limitations that our current society imposes on us in issues such as
monetary control, as well as access to certain university education in careers that
I am sure tomorrow many women will be able to exercise and thus show the
world the capacity we have to generate wealth and well-being in our respective
homes and nations.

12) Your sister Catherine has a different view regarding women's education, unlike your
sister you consider that women should be excluded from the active political struggle.
My question is, should women be relegated to household chores? Isn't this another
model of slavery existing today?
 • I see that much has been reported about my sister's ideals, and despite the love I
have for Catherine, it is clear that we can have different points of view. There
may be women enslaved today, but neither I nor my sister are. What we both are
is critical of today's society and both pursue from different fronts and ways of
acting, a single objective, which is the equality of women with men and respect
for the capacities we have and that we must validate and legislate. This is how
we will achieve a change in our society not only today but also in the future,
which allows pure love in the couple, and a dignified treatment of women.

13) The new law of the “Fugitive Slave Act” obliges the capture of escaped slaves and
severely condemns and punishes people who help these fugitives. We know that you
and your family helped several slaves in their flight north. Are you not afraid that
there may be severe sanctions against you?
• The action of helping them is a clear indication that we are following the
Christian steps correctly and aiming at achieving a change that allows the defense
of the human being, of these unprotected slaves, who must be helped by all of us,
as Christian beings that we are. Not to do so would be against God's own will in
my opinion. And I fear nothing if my God protects me, and I know He does when
I act correctly and under the principles of Christian morality.

14) The parallel stories of the slave woman who flees north with her child in your book,
and that of Uncle Tom himself who is tortured to death in a southern state, are this
stories a comparison between good and evil of the northern and southern states of
our country? Could a reader interpret that the northern states are closer to peace and
prosperity as well as the industrial development of the future, and to the contrary, the
southern states and their inhabitants have damaged morals and souls?.
• The people of the different states, both north and south, can according to their
actions and faith, be closer or not to good or evil. Although it is true that in the
northern states slavery does not exist in the same way as it occurs in the southern
states, the war between both blocs is not a war between good or bad people, but
it is true that the slavery existing in the southern states does not allow the progress
of the human being and therefore of the states where these cruel actions were
being carried out on a daily basis. Now it is time to unify all the states in this
great nation that is the United States, under moral and Christian values that allow
 the industrial and economic progress of all the states and all the American people
who inhabit it.

15) Reading your book, Uncle Tom's cabin seems to be more than a cabin, a place of
inner peace. It could be said that this inner peace always accompanies its main
character Uncle Tom, giving him an almost religious and non-human serenity. Do
you think that people must have that inner peace to achieve a better world through
their actions?
• Did Jesus not succeed through his inner peace and his actions to enlighten us and
give us his goodness and Christian love, and through this love of neighbor
achieve the salvation of our souls and create a better world. I do not doubt that
the best way to do good must arise from within our souls and from love of our
neighbors.

16) Other contemporary authors of yours such as Edgar Alan Poe, Herman Melville, …,
have not sold more than 300,000 copies in just over a year as you have. What do you
think is the reason for this success and what would you recommend to these authors
to achieve your fame?
• All of them are authors whom I admire, perhaps the only thing that can
differentiate my work from theirs is my need to transmit my Christian principles
and values, in order to generate a change in society regarding situations that we
should no longer tolerate such as slavery. If people value my work, perhaps it is
more because they find in it a certain inner peace and a light that guides them
towards the change of our society with respect to the cruelty that black slaves
suffer today.

17) It is by far the best-selling novel of this century, only surpassed in sales by the Bible
itself. Are you concerned about the relevance and weight that your words may
convey to so many readers?
• I am sure that future works by other authors will be best sellers in this or the next
century, and I feel an enormous responsibility regarding what I write and how I
write it, because I know very well the strength of the written word, the
transcendence that the reader can cause by modifying their behavior, their values,
 and their actions. In this case what I pursue through my work is the common
wellbeing of my neighbors.

18) Your husband has received an envelope with a human ear probably from a slave in a
southern state. You know that many people in these southern states are deeply upset
with your anti-slavery work, are you afraid that the actions of these people may affect
you and your family?
• I would not be human if I were not afraid, but surely we are on the right path if
we receive threats of this type, but I hope I have enough strength to move forward
and that God allows us to continue fighting through my writing to transmit the
feeling of love that I have for these people who are suffering continuously and
who deserve nothing but freedom.

19) You have received harsh criticism for writing about the sexual abuse of slaves in the
south at the hands of their owners because of their status as women. Do you think it
would have been more convenient to write this book under a male pseudonym as you
have done in other previous books, under the name Cristopher Crowfield.?
• On previous occasions I have used a male pseudonym, which has allowed me to
write more freely about what I think, but this time as a mother and with the will
to be precisely a mother who knows what the suffering for the loss of a child is
that I could not write again with the pseudonym of a man. It is my will to transmit
the importance of love for a child, for our neighbor, for the human being in
general, and that allows us to approach the words of the Lord.

20) What did you think about President Abraham Lincoln's words when he said “so you
are the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war?”, is to blame you
for the war against the South?”.
• I don’t doubt that the President wanted to have a kind gesture with me, it is also
true that through his words I interpret that it is not the height of a person that can
move the conscience of a nation. I am sure that I am not the cause of any war,
perhaps I am the cause of opening the eyes and hearts of many readers regarding
the need to simply treat a human being with Christianity and the love we owe to
one another. After an armed conflict, our country and our hearts are damaged
and we must make every effort to reunite this great nation, and all Americans
 united in faith, on the path of salvation and Christian values of love of our
neighbours.

21) To what extent did the stories he told you influence the writing of your book “Uncle
Tom's Cabin”?
• His stories are the true basis that inspired me to write about so many dramas lived
and suffered, unimaginable to our Christian minds and hearts, I felt that it was
my moral and religious obligation to transmit all this suffering lived and suffered
by slaves in our United States. Do not think for a moment that these stories are
too tough in my book, because I am sure that reality is much harder than the
fiction. This is precisely the reason that inspired me to communicate to all my
readers the great sorrow I feel for the suffering of these human beings. Men,
women, children, who generation after generation, have been tortured and to
whom we have not given due Christian protection.

22) You have also been criticized for meddling in these issues as a woman. Do you think
you can be criticized for not adequately attending to your family, all of your 7
children and your husband? Do you think this criticism is fair?
• It is not a fair criticism, since I have never neglected my family or my Christian
duties and I have combined my life as a writer with my daily chores. I would
even say that I have managed to improve the economy of my home and position
the name of my family in the best way.

23) In some of your letters you have written about how difficult it is to take time to write,
do you think this can affect the quality of your work?

• You are a young journalist and you will also know how difficult it is sometimes
to have an environment conducive to writing, however you are able to ask the
right questions and without any doubt you will get an interesting article for your
readers. I am well aware of the difficulties involved in writing as a woman and
having to attend to multiple tasks at home, but this does not prevent me from
being a successful writer and it will be my readers who judge the quality of my
work. Just the fact of having achieved so many sales indicate that I am on the
right track, although that certainly does not prevent me from learning and
 improving continuously, because writing is a process as complex as life. That is
why I dedicated much of my life to writing, being very aware that my words
written in my books are transcendental, and that thanks to these, perhaps changes
in people's ideas and thoughts will be achieved. Changes that improve our society
and allow us to be a great nation.

24) After reading your book, I perceive the main characters Uncle Tom and Evangelina,
as an Incarnation of Christian purity and goodness. Both go through a stormy
journey, and a life full of tears, and always give the best of themselves hoping to be
rewarded by life itself. Is this the spirit of the true Christian, or rather of the true
American? Are these the gifts that people in our nation should have?
• Being a good Christian should not be different from being a good American. It is
more, I would say that there can not be a good American who does not follow
the principles of God, and contribute with his actions to improve the society in
which we live and build a just and egalitarian country.

25) Sometimes your religious message surpasses the abolitionist message in your book,
at least other readers have commented to me. Why do you send such a clear and
resounding message to the population, exaggerating the characterization of your
characters in such a way?
• So that the reader can better visualize my ideas through exaggeration or drama in
my work, sometimes it is necessary. My Christian values transcend in my work
because they are part of me, and my will to make slavery and human suffering
disappear as well. I want to be direct and clear about the suffering of these black
men and women, and the cases and stories I expose in the book can sometimes
be lighter than reality itself.

26) To conclude, I will ask you perhaps the most complex question of this interview.
You are a firm believer in the freedom to be given to black slaves across the country.
Do you also believe that civil rights should be given on the same level as a white
man?. Moreover that they live among us in our homes and with the same advantages
and labor benefits as the white man? We know that your father in his Christian and
moral duty firmly believes that they should be released, but he does not consider that
 they should have the same civil rights as the white man, but that they should return
to their origin, to their nations in Africa. What do you think of this?
• First of all, he considered the disappearance of slavery from this sacred land of
the United States necessary, this being the first step to make our nation a worthy
nation, Christian, and worthy of God's protection. I am not proposing that the
black man is exactly the same as the white man, but in God's eyes he is a human
being who deserves our respect and protection. These people have suffered a lot
generationally since their arrival from Africa, and it is understandable that people
like my father wish the best after their release wishing for them to be reunited
with their families in their lands and countries of origin. Talking today about the
equality in civil rights of these human beings seems to me to speak of a distant
and unreal future, but it was also unreal that a woman could write a book that
sold more than 300,000 copies in just one year, or that this woman could receive
university education. I am sure that time and God will allow us to give the right
place to black men and women in this our nation, and that what seems impossible
to us today will be real in the future.

*** Dear Mrs Harriet, as we agreed this interview is going to be put into a sealed envelope
which will be handed to a solicitor who will keep it in custody until the beginning of the year
2023. Then it will be sent to a University of a European country where American Literature
is being studied. It would be wonderful if it were read by a female professor who would
analyse the situation of life in the United States at the time your book was launched.

Her students can debate over slavery in the states and your ideas and firm religious belief.
We both sincerely hope that slavery has been abolished completely all over the world.
Bibliography

1) Manuel, Carme. “La cabaña del tío Tom”. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Edición Catedra
Letras Universales, 11/01/2007.
2) Maria, 'La cabaña del tío Tom', Harriet Beecher Stowe,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=615ur1a4pPQ. LIBROS POLÉMICOS
Bibliografía consultada por la editora: MANUEL, Carme, "Introducción", en BEECHER
STOWE, Harriet, 'La cabaña del tío Tom', Ed. Cátedra, Madrid, 2010.