Textual Background and Context

The illustrations I examined were the Announcement of slave sale on page 413, Illustration of cotton screw torture instrument on page 420, and Iron mask, collar, leg shackles, and spurs used to restrict slaves on page 421. These images displayed all the ways slaves were treated more like a piece of property then an actual human being. The images also help me better understand different aspects of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

In the illustration on page 413, the ad describes a “Great Sale of Slaves” and lists all of the slaves that will be auctioned off. The ad describes the slaves as either a “Buck” or a “Wench” instead of naming their gender, this is an example of dehumanization because it’s restricting a black’s right to live free of discrimination. Whites discriminated against blacks in many ways and wanted to make sure that in no ways were they equal. If blacks would have been called a male or female the same way the whites were it would have shown more equality between black and whites. In the novel, this poster is something that would have been posted to advertise the auctions that took place in the slave warehouse where Tom and the other slaves from the St. Clare’s household held and then eventually sold at.

In the illustration on page 420, the image is a cotton screw torture instrument that was used to punish slaves who did wrong. The instrument was actually a machine that was used for packing and pressing cotton. This is a major example of dehumanization because it took away the slave’s rights to live free from torture. If slaves would do anything wrong or attempt to run away this instrument would be used as a way of punishment. Although no cotton screw torture instrument was used in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, this illustration gives an example of a punishment that could have taken place on the plantations if a slave would attempt to run away.  

In the illustration on page 421, the image is of different restraints used to control slaves while being transported and auctioned off. Each restraint was used for a different reason and helped restrict slaves in different manners. An iron mask that was used to prevent slaves from talking or eating. A heavy iron collar was used to stop slaves from running away because the spiked ends would make it difficult for the slaves to navigate through any areas with trees or bushes. Lastly, spurs and leg shackles were used to prevent slaves from running away and any other physical resistance. These devices demonstrate dehumanization because it’s treating the slaves as if they were animals and not human beings. The restraints prevented slaves from simple rights, such as running or eating. In the novel, some of these restraints were used on Tom during his transportation with Master Haley. “Tom got in, and Haley drawing out from under the wagon seat a heavy pair of shackles, made them fast around each ankle” (Stowe, 89). The illustration helped create a mental image of the shackles that were used on Tom at this point in Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

All three of these images demonstrated a different way that the theme of dehumanization was prevalent throughout slavery in the 1800s and they helped create a better understanding of various aspects in Uncle Tom’s Cabin.