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	You are a digital historian, a history sleuth.  Your mission today is to follow the directions below to seek out information on the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe.  As a class, we will be trying to answer the overall research question: What was the significance of Uncle Tom's Cabin in the antebellum United States? Your individual assignment: You will be finding information both by looking at assigned pages and by looking through digital history archives online.  As you work on your project, you will keep a field notebook of your findings.  Be sure that you answer the questions for each section in your field notebook as you do your research.  Also, you should be collecting more sources from the website to include in your field notebook.          At the end of your personal search for information, you are going to be meeting with a sharing group to present your findings.  So, as you are researching, keep in mind ways that you will be able to explain what you find to others.  You will use your field notebook to help you present your findings to your fellow historians (and to turn in for a grade)!

    Research question:  What does the print response to Uncle Tom's Cabin tell you about the significance of the novel in its time period?

1.  Go to Uncle Tom's Cabin and American Culture.  Click on Interpret Mode and read the introduction to the site.  This will give you good background information for our project today.

2.  Pick 5 of the following articles to read and record details in your field notebook.

"The Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin."  Frederick Douglass' Paper. Frederick Douglass. Rochester: 29 April 1853

THE KEY TO UNCLE TOM'S CABIN--AGAIN. Southern Slavery and Its Assailants. Unsigned (J. D. B. De Bow?). New Orleans: De Bow's Review, January 1854

AN APPEAL TO THE WOMEN OF THE FREE STATES OF AMERICA ON THE PRESENT CRISIS IN OUR COUNTRY. BY MRS. HARRIET BEECHER STOWE.  Provincial Freeman. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Toronto: 25 March 1854

from Frederick Douglass' Paper. Unsigned Reprint. 3 June 1852

Anti-Slavery and Abolitionism in the Theatres.  The New York Herald.  Unsigned (James Gordon Bennett).  28 August 1852

Uncle Tom's Cabin.  From the New Orleans Picayune.  The Liberator. Unsigned Reprint.  Boston: 4 March 1853

"Uncle Tom" in School.  Frederick Douglass's Paper.  Unsigned Reprint.  Rochester: 27 January 1854

Liberator Review.  Unsigned, William Lloyd Garrison.  Boston: 26 March 1852

Literary Notices.  The National Era.  Unsigned (Gamaliel Bailey?).  Washington, D.C.: 22 April 1852

Southern Press Review.  Unsigned.  1852

3.  Now, it is your turn to explore the sight. Enter the site and find two more sources (written articles, not pictures or other media)--one should be supporting the novel and one should be against the novel.  Try to find articles with really strong arguments that will explain what the author is feeling.  Print these articles out and then record them in your field notebook.  Spend some time on these responses because this is where you can pull your work together.  Remember, you are going to be sharing this information with your classmates, so be thorough.

4.  To prepare for the closing exercise, collect all of your research in your field notebook (include your printouts and other notes that you have taken today).
 

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    Research question:  What do the visual images that surround Uncle Tom's Cabin tell you about the significance of the novel in its time period?
To answer this question, we are going to be going through several different parts of the Uncle Tom's Cabin and American Culture site.

1.  Start by looking at the Minstrel Show Gallery of Images.  After looking at the 6 images there, answer the questions in your field notebook under Sheet Music Covers.

2.  Then, go to the Anti-Slavery Texts Gallery of Images.  Choose at least 5-8 images to examine.  When you have gotten a good understanding of these types of images, record your observations in your field notebook.

3.  Now, let's focus more on our research question by looking at some images from the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin.  (These are located in the Illustrations section and are from the (1853) Illustrated Edition.
Eliza telling Tom about being Sold
Mother Jumping Overboard with her infant
The Shackles' on Tom's Legs
Buying Albert At Auction
Hagar losing Albert
Tom rescuing Eva
Tom pleading with St. Clare
Topsy dancing
Legree kicking Tom
Legree beating Tom
Tom's final beating
 

3.  Now, let's look at some images from the Pro-Slavery Response that came after Uncle Tom's Cabin.  There are only a few images to look at here, so choose at least 2 novels and look at all of the pictures from that novel.  Then record in your field notebook.

4.  To bring your search for images to a close, go back through the Uncle Tom's Cabin and American Culture site.  Pick at least 5 images that explain what you have learned today from your research and print them out.  The pictures you pick should be from different parts of the site and should help show some of the conflicting portrayals of slavery that you have seen today..  After you have printed out your pictures, fill out your field notebook.

5.  To prepare for the closing exercise, collect all of your research in your field notebook (include your printouts and other notes that you have taken today).

6.  Need help? Go to the Uncle Tom's Cabin and American Culture.  Click on Interpret Mode and read the introduction to the site.  This will give you good background information for our project today.

    Your group has a difficult job because your sources will not be as easy to examine.  You will mostly be listening to music and you will also look at a few items that were representations of Uncle Tom's Cabin.  The key to success in your research today will be to constantly keep in mind your research question. As you listen to each song or look at each item, think about what hidden messages you are hearing and about what this item or song presents.

Research question:  What does looking at other multi-media connections to Uncle Tom's Cabin tell you about the significance of the novel in its time period?

1.  Go to the Tomitudes section of the website.  Explore the 3D Tomitudes and Decorative Plates sections site paying close attention to how the characters are portrayed, what types of articles you are viewing, and what background information about the novel you can find.  In your field notebook, record your search.

2.  Now, spend some time examining the mantelpiece screen that is in the Miscellaneous Tomitudes section.  (To look at the pictures and captions more closely, click on them one at a time).   Answer the questions in your field notebook.

3.  Next, you are going to be listening to some songs and will be comparing and contrasting them.
First, listen to "Old Color'd Gentleman" a 1843 song  from the minstrel shows, and print out the lyrics. Fill out your field notebook.
Second, listen to some songs that were written after Uncle Tom's Cabin and in reference to it.  You will hear two very different songs.  See if you can hear the difference and remember to record your research in your field notebook (print out the lyrics to share with your group at the end of your research).
Eva to Her Papa
Aunt Harriet Becha Stowe

4.  To help bring your exploration to a close:  Go to the Uncle Tom's Cabin and American Culture.  Click on Interpret Mode and read the Interpretive Exhibit on the site.  This will give you more background information for our project today.

5.  To prepare for the closing exercise, collect all of your research in your field notebook (include your printouts and other notes that you have taken today).