Lesson 6: Religion in Uncle Tom's Cabin

Readers of Stowe's novel quickly discover that Uncle Tom's Cabin is not only about the social evil of slavery but also about the incompatibility of slavery with Christianity. If classes have already done Lessons 4 and 5 on this site, students will have already encountered examples of Stowe's use of religion in the novel. As preparation for this lesson, teachers may want to spend some time with students exploring how Stowe uses religion in the first 2/3 of the novel (everything up to Legree's plantation). There are a number of possibilities for doing this, including: a reconsideration of the activities in Lessons 4 and 5 with an emphasis on religion; a look at St. Clare's debate with Ophelia in Chapter XXVIII ("Reunion"); or an exploration of the ways that Stowe argues against pro- slavery ministers. Almost every chapter in the novel is full of opportunities to discuss how Stowe uses Christianity to argue against slavery.

This lesson takes religion in the novel a step further –- to consider how Stowe's use of religion in the last chapters of the novel might have actually subverted or at least de-emphasized her anti-slavery message. In "White Readers and Black Slaves," Stephen Railton writes about "the danger of Stowe's decision to combine the novel she was writing to protest a social injustice with an allegory of individual salvation" (107):

By this stage [Legree plantation] in Tom's journey the novel is concerned less with abolishing slavery than with gaining the kingdom. . . . When Tom is moved on to the journey's final stage, the theological almost completely displaces the political. Aesthetically, Simon Legree's dark place in the swamp exists essentially in the same allegorical realm as the sites Christian travels through in Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.

This lesson tackles the question of religion in Uncle Tom's Cabin through an emphasis on Chapter XXXVIII: "The Victory" and Chapter XL: "The Martyr," along with the literary term "allegory" and its most famous example, Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. Additionally, music and illustrations from the Uncle Tom's Cabin and American Culture website will help students to understand how Stowe's early readers could interpret Uncle Tom's Cabin as a novel about religious salvation. By the end of this lesson (and especially if students have already considered how religion aided Stowe's anti-slavery cause), students should be able to consider the dual questions:

In what ways does the religion in Uncle Tom's Cabin further the cause of anti-slavery? In what ways does the religion in Uncle Tom's Cabin weaken or even subvert the cause of anti-slavery?

Section of Novel : 2 chapters: Chapters XXXVIII "The Victory" and Chapter XL "The Martyr"

Length of Lesson : 1-2 days

Materials Needed
  • Lesson 6 Discussion Questions
  • Simulating a 19th Century Reader's Experience :
    1. Book cover from the 1853 Illustrated Edition
    2. Illustration from "The Victory" (1853 Illustrated Edition)
    3. Illustration from "The Martyr" (1853 Illustrated Edition)
    4. Amazing Grace (first hymn Tom sings in "The Victory")
    5. When I Can Read My Title Clear (second hymn Tom sings in "The Victory")
  • Handout 1: Allegory and Pilgrim's Progress
  • Handout 2: Anti-slavery and Religion
  • Photograph from the William A. Brady Company's 1901 "Tom Show"
  • Suggested: a children's illustrated edition of Pilgrim's Progress
  • Suggested: Materials for diagramming Tom's journey (butcher paper, markers, glue, construction paper, etc.)

    Skills Focus -- based on Virginia's Standards of Learning (SOLs)
    11th Grade English
    11.3 The student will read and analyze relationships among American literature, history, and culture.

    • The Lesson

    1. Reading the Chapters: Assign the 2 chapters entitled "The Victory" and "The Martyr" for students to read before this lesson. Another option is to read the chapters together in class.

      As Stephen Railton points out, Stowe's 19th century readers would have been very familiar with the 2 hymns in "The Victory" and could have "heard" them as they read this chapter. In order to simulate this experience, teachers and students may want to listen to Amazing Grace and When I Can Read My Title Clear on the Uncle Tom's Cabin and American Culture website as they read the chapters. (To download the free programs necessary to listen to music on the web, see Stephen Railton's "Suggestions for Using the Music" on the Uncle Tom's Cabin and American Culture website. To get there, go to the Sitemap. Click on "Interpret Mode" on the right of the sitemap. Then click on "Lesson Plans." Scroll down and select "Suggestions for Teachers" by Stephen Railton. From here, select "Music." Then read the suggestions for teachers about using the music in the classroom.)

      The illustration from "The Victory" and the illustration from "The Martyr" in the 1853 Illustrated Edition, both of which picture Tom and Christ together, will also add to a simulation of the 19th century reader's experience and will introduce students to the importance of Christianity in the novel. Also have students take a look at the image that was selected for the cover of the 1853 Illustrated Edition. (For more illustrations from this and other editions, see the Illustrations in the Uncle Tom's Cabin and American Culture website.) After looking together at these three images, post them in the classroom for the remainder of this lesson.

    2. Depending on whether students read the 2 chapters as preparation for this lesson or in class, the Discussion Questions, which may be answered as homework or in class discussion, will help student focus on the nature of Tom's "victory" at the close of the novel.

    3. After students have become familiar with these 2 chapters by reading them, listening to the music, viewing the illustrations, and completing the Discussion Questions, the next part of the lesson focuses on Uncle Tom's Cabin as a religious allegory. Look together at Handout 1: Allegory and Pilgrim's Progress, which gives a brief definition of the literary term "allegory" and a summary of its most famous example in the English language: Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.

    4. Along with the Bible, Pilgrim's Progress was the most likely book to be found in 19th century American homes. The story of Christian's pilgrimage from home to heaven would have been very familiar to Stowe and her readers, and it was one of the models for Uncle Tom's Cabin. For more on this, see Pilgrim's Progress in the Uncle Tom's Cabin and American Culture website. To familiarize students with this model for Stowe's novel and to solidify their understanding of "allegory," consider reading a children's illustrated version of Pilgrim's Progress to students. (Because of the original's length and difficulty, a simplified version that boils down the basic structure of Pilgrim's Progress will be most helpful for students.) Check with a local library, elementary school library, or bookstore for children's editions.

    5. After discussing Handout 1: Allegory and Pilgrim's Progress (and after reading the children's version of Pilgrim's Progress, if teachers choose to do so), have students brainstorm the following question together or in groups: How is Uncle Tom's Cabin like an allegory? If students have read enough excerpts from Uncle Tom's Cabin to become familiar with Tom's journey -- see the Progression of Selected Chapters, Option B –- consider having students diagram Tom's journey. If time is short, simply have students sketch the points along Tom's journey on notebook paper, or for a longer assignment, have students create a banner with butcher paper that gives a visual representation of Tom's journey. Have students include the "stops" in Tom's journey from home to heaven, images or descriptions of each successive house, and quotes from the novel about Tom's physical and spiritual state at the various points of his pilgrimage.

    6. After students have discussed or created visual representations of Uncle Tom's Cabin as an allegory, have students consider the following questions:

      • What is the ultimate goal of Christian's journey in the allegory of Pilgrim's Progress?
      • In what other ways might Tom's story have ended? (If Stowe's anti-slavery novel had not modeled itself after a religious allegory, might Tom's story have ended differently? Teachers might want to have students consider the alternatives enacted by other characters, such as George Harris's escape in Chapter XXXVII: "Liberty," or Cassy's rebellion in "The Victory.")
      • Is a Christian allegory compatible with anti-slavery? Why or why not?


    7. Distribute Handout 2: Anti-slavery and Religion. This handout includes two quotes that suggest what effect the novel's turn towards allegory might have had on Stowe's readers. Discuss the quotes together or have students respond in their reading journals. One of the passages in Handout 2 refers to the crucifixion of Tom. To see just how closely 19th and early 20th century readers associated Tom's death with Christ's crucifixion, take a look at this photograph from the William A. Brady Company's "Tom Show" in 1901.

    8. Once students have completed this lesson, and especially if they have also considered how Stowe uses religion to argue against slavery (as suggested in the introduction to this lesson), have students consider the following big questions:

      In what ways does the religion in Uncle Tom's Cabin further the cause of anti-slavery? In what ways does the religion in Uncle Tom's Cabin weaken or even subvert the cause of anti-slavery?
      Teachers may decide to turn this question into a class debate, with one side arguing that religion aids Stowe's anti-slavery cause and the other side arguing that religion subverts Stowe's anti-slavery cause. Or students could take one side of this question in persuasive essays, using excerpts from the novel to support their answers.