Critical Commentary

The article that I chose to talk about is Robert S. Levine’s, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin in Frederick Douglass’ Paper: An Analysis of Reception,” on page 562. I chose this article because my theme is about runaway slaves and this article mentions the Fugitive Slave Laws and Frederick Douglass and I thought that directly applies to the book and my theme.

In this article, one main point is how Frederick Douglass was a powerful black abolitionist during his time and that he worked really hard to get rid of the Fugitive Slave Law. The section of the article points out Douglass’ work, how he created the Frederick Douglass’ Paper, and some of his views towards slavery.

In order to better understand this article and how Frederick Douglass relates to my theme, I did a little bit of digging as well as using some of my own background knowledge. Frederick Douglass was a black man who was a former slave, who was also an abolitionist, working hard to get rid of the Fugitive Slave Act as well as abolish slavery completely. The Fugitive Slave Law was a law created to punish anyone who helped runaway slaves in any way. A person could face prison time as well as fines if they sheltered, fed or helped any slaves escape. It also gave police the ability to arrest any suspected runaway slave right on the spot. Douglass felt that slavery had no rightful existence anywhere and that slaves never should have seen such a horrible enactment like this law. He was one of the main abolitionists to lead the fight against the law.

I feel like this connects to Uncle Tom’s Cabin, more specifically with my theme in a few ways. One way is that in one part of the book, many slave hunters were out looking for these runaway slaves, knowing full well that they’d get a reward for returning them to their masters. Another way it connects to the book is that when Eliza meets the Quakers and Mr. Bird, the Fugitive Slave Law is actually brought up and how it’s in the making. Mr. Bird’s wife makes note that she will not follow it and that if a slave showed up at her door, she would still help them out. This is exactly what happens and they end up helping Eliza and her Harry. They, along with many other people in the book and just during this time period in general, were willing to accept the consequences because they knew that helping these slaves was the right thing to do.