Although many other issues from 1853 contain more articles
specifically about Uncle Tom's Cabin, this one is typical both of the
content of Douglass' paper and of how within a year after its publication Stowe's novel had become part of the conversation of the time whenever
the discussion turned to slavery.
The issue's longest piece is a chapter-length excerpt from Dicken's
Bleak House, which Douglass reprinted in its entirety more or less
chapter by chapter (depending on how many column inches he needed to fill)
over the course of many weeks. (Reprinting British novels was a common practice
of American newspapers in the 19th century, in part because the absence of an
international copyright law meant no one had to be paid for their use.) Like
most issues of the paper, this one contains two original poems. The one
other long piece of fiction is Part III (of four parts being published serially)
of Douglass' own "Heroic Slave," the
only fiction he ever wrote. This novella about a slave revolt had just been
published in the abolitionist book Autographs for Freedom, edited by Julia Griffiths and advertised
elsewhere in the paper. It is, I think, intended to revise Uncle Tom's
Cabin by presenting a militant example of slave heroism, and the whole text
of the novella is available in the AFRICAN AMERICAN
RESPONSES section of the archive.
The "hottest" topic in this issue is the law recently passed by the Illinois
legislature effectively making it a serious crime for "blacks or mulattos" to
move into the state. There are articles, letters and editorials about "The
Negro Law" on three of the four pages. As these items show, Douglass' paper was
as concerned with the condition of "free colored people" in the North as it was with the plight of slaves in the South.
There is also a long article by Douglass about training
blacks in new trades, in order to insure their economic place in the North.
Two other long pieces are occasioned by the "Address to the Ladies of
America," written by the Duchess of Sutherland; the "Address" itself had been
occasioned by the British publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Former
first lady Mrs. Tyler had written a pro-slavery reply, condemning
England for interfering in America's own affairs, and that in turn is what
provoked the two
pieces Douglass reprints here: a long defense of the Duchess by Jane Gray
Swisshelm, and an editorial on the controversy from the London Times.
(Reprinting articles from other domestic and foreign papers was another staple
of mid-19th century newspapers.)
Stowe's novel is mentioned overtly in Swisshelm's letter; it is also
implicitly criticized for being too soft on slavery in Kentucky. References to
Stowe or her book also appear in the Times article, in a poem reprinted
from the British humor magazine Punch offering a humorous commentary on
the quarrel between Ladies in America and their sisters in England, and in a
letter to the paper by "P.C.S." agreeing with Douglass on the need for blacks
to confront conditions in the North more aggressively. There is also (on page
4) an ad for an illustrated poem entitled "Topsey, or The Slave Girl's Appeal"
(this ad ran in Frederick Douglass' Paper for several months).
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