Life at the South

  In some biographies Calvin Henderson Wiley is identified as a lawyer; in others, as a Reverend. Perhaps he was both. All agree he was a proud native of North Carolina who originally published this book in 1849 as Roanoke; or, Where Is Utopia? "Utopia" is the name of the novel's heroine, which gives the flavor of the book's combination of Walter Scott historical romance and allegory. It is set at the beginning of the American Revolution, and emphasizes the heroic qualities of the colonists who rebelled against their English oppressors.
  The hero's name is Walter Tucker, son of Dan Tucker. Though the story also contains a Zip Coon, who is black, this Tucker family is white. There is also an impressive fugitive slave named Wild Bill, who argues eloquently (in Chapter 27) that Carolina's slaves have the same right of revolt as its discontented colonists, but the narrative is firmly pro-slavery: it is the villain who schemes to start a slave rebellion in order to head off the American Revolution.
  The story it tells that matters here, however, is less complicated. When Stowe's novel became a best-seller, Wiley (or his publisher) decided to republish the book, changing only the name. Only the name makes any connection to Uncle Tom's Cabin. (In 1866 Peterson published the novel again, under the original title.)
Life at the South: A Companion to Uncle Tom's Cabin
By C. H. Wiley
Embellished with Fourteen Beautiful Illustrations Drawn Expressly for This Work by Darley
(Philadelphia: T. B. Peterson, 1852)

Digital text prepared with the help of the
Wright American Fiction Project, Indiana University Library.




Paper Cover

  • CHAPTER I.   NORTH CAROLINA.
  • CHAPTER II.   THE ARABS OF NORTH CAROLINA.
  • CHAPTER III.   AN ARAB CHIEF.
  • CHAPTER IV.   A STRANGER'S RECEPTION IN UTOPIA.
  • CHAPTER V.   UTOPIAN WAY OF CHOOSING A WIFE.
  • CHAPTER VI.   A BALL IN UTOPIA.
  • CHAPTER VII.   "OLD WRECKS" SHOWS HIS NAME...
  • CHAPTER VIII.   UTOPIAN HOSPITALITY.
  • CHAPTER IX.   SCENES IN UTOPIA.
  • CHAPTER X.   UTOPIAN SPRITES.
  • CHAPTER XI.   THE REAL UTOPIA.
  • CHAPTER XII.   NEW BERNE.
  • CHAPTER XIII.   NEW CHARACTERS.
  • CHAPTER XIV.   LIFE IN UTOPIA.
  • CHAPTER XV.   TOURNAMENT IN UTOPIA.
  • CHAPTER XVI.   THE ESCAPE FROM UTOPIA.
  • CHAPTER XVII.   THE STORY OF OLD DAN TUCKER.
  • CHAPTER XVIII.   A FAMOUS CHARACTER.
  • CHAPTER XIX.   SOCIETY IN NEW BERNE IN THE OLDEN TIME.
  • CHAPTER XX.   SOCIETY IN NEW BERNE, CONTINUED.
  • CHAPTER XXI.   A CONVERSATION IN THE PALACE.
  • CHAPTER XXII.   A STRANGE VISITOR ARRIVES IN NEW BERNE.
  • CHAPTER XXIII.   ART AND NATURE, AT THE GRAND CONCERT.
  • CHAPTER XXIV.   DEVELOPMENT OF CHARACTER.
  • CHAPTER XXV.   THE SCENE SHIFTS.
  • CHAPTER XXVI.   UTOPIA IN THE WILDERNESS.
  • CHAPTER XXVII.   A SURPRISE.
  • CHAPTER XXVIII.   THE FAREWELL.
  • CHAPTER XXIX.   UTOPIA IN NEW BERNE.
  • CHAPTER XXX.   A MIDNIGHT CAUCUS.
  • CHAPTER XXXI.   OLD DAN TUCKER AND HIS VIOLIN...
  • CHAPTER XXXII.   ZIP COON HAS AN ADVENTURE.
  • CHAPTER XXXIII.   HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL.
  • CHAPTER XXXIV.   BOYISH CONVERSATION.
  • CHAPTER XXXV.   THE CAMP MEETING.
  • CHAPTER XXXVI.   WHICH IS THE DUPE?
  • CHAPTER XXXVII.   THE CHASE.
  • CHAPTER XXXVIII.   THE CLUB.
  • CHAPTER XXXIX.   WALTER ENTERS NEW BERNE...
  • CHAPTER XL.   UTOPIA—EXCELSIOR.
  • CHAPTER XLI.   DETERIOR—WHILE THE PURE...
  • CHAPTER XLII.   FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF CHARACTER.
  • CHAPTER XLIII.   PROGRESS OF A UTOPIAN.
  • CHAPTER XLIV.   THE END OF A UTOPIAN DREAMER.
  • CHAPTER XLV.   THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP AND ITS TENANT.
  • CHAPTER XLVI.   UTOPIA AGAIN—EXCELSIOR.
  • CHAPTER XLVII.   HISTORICAL.
  • CHAPTER XLVIII.   AN UNPUBLISHED LEAF OF HISTORY.
  • CHAPTER XLIX.   A GLIMPSE OF HUMAN LIFE.
  • CHAPTER L.   SCENES AFTER THE BATTLE.
  • CHAPTER LI.   SECOND AND LAST MEETING...
  • CHAPTER LII.   TIME'S REVELATIONS
  • CHAPTER LIII.   THE TEMPTER AND THE TEMPTED....
  • CHAPTER LIV.   OTHER CHARACTERS RETIRE FROM THE SCENE.
  • CHAPTER LV.   WHERE IS UTOPIA?


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