Uncle Tom's Cabin Unit of Study
The Power of One and Uncle Tom's Cabin Lesson Plan
By David J. Cope

Overview

One of the little noticed themes in Uncle Tom's Cabin is Harriet Beecher Stowe's promotion of the positive influence of the individual within the community. Through examining selected passages from the novel, students will use the governmental philosophy of John Locke to underscore Stowe's belief in individual responsibility and political action.

Time Required

Three to four days, including background readings and discussions

Materials Needed

Internet access to this site: http://www.iath.virginia.edu/utc/uncletom/uthp.html

The Lesson

Anticipatory Set

1. Ask the class to decide on a problem within the school that needs attention. Then, divide students into groups and ask each group to create a solution resolving the problem; the solution must include the following:


• a definition of the problem;
• estimated cost;
• estimated time for completion;
• significant benefits and drawbacks; and
• overall support for the solution.


2. When each group has completed the assignment, have them report to the class. Have the class discuss all of the suggestions and come to a consensus solution. Select representatives form the class to present the idea to the school's principal in person. However, remind the committee that people in authority prefer ideas in writing for convenience.

Procedures

1. In Chapter Eleven, George Harris, now a fugitive slave in the North, gets into a heated argument over to whom the United States belongs and who should obey its laws. He states, "Haven't I heard your Fourth-of-July speeches? Don't you tell us all, once a year, that government derives their just powers from the consent of the governed?" Explain to the students that George is paraphrasing John Locke's Two Treatises of Government: citizens give the government its authority by agreeing to be governed by it, but, if the government violates its social contract to protect the citizens' right to life, liberty and property, then the citizens may remove the consent of the governed and change the government. Then, ask students the following:


• In what ways do citizens change the government (i.e., voting a government out, referendum and petition, revolution)?
• How does Locke's theory play into U.S. history?
• Why would George feel disenfranchised from this theory


2. Throughout Uncle Tom's Cabin, Stowe raises the issue of the responsibility of the individual to take action. When confronted by his cousin Ophelia about the cruel whipping death that Prue received at the hands of her master, Augustine St. Clare states, "...what can a man of honorable and humane feeling do, but shut his eyes all he can , and harden his heart?" He repeats the sentiment to his brother Alfred, "One man can do nothing, against the whole action of a community." Stowe resolves the issue when the young master, George Shelby, confronts the fact that Simon Legree murdered Uncle Tom, and Shelby has no legal recourse against Legree, "...oh, witness that, from this hour, I do what one man can do to drive out this curse of slavery from my land!" Have students answer the following:


• Do individuals today feel as disenfranchised as George Harris?
• Give an example of one person or a group that made a significant difference in the school or local community.

Assessment

Assess students through observations made during the class discussions and through the written assignments and projects provided in the Procedures section.

Related Works

Extracts from Locke's Two Treatises, available at http://www.mdx.ac.uk/www/study/xLocke.htm

Interdisciplinary Links

The lesson on the individual's responsibility allows for great interdisciplinary links with the English curriculum and character education.

This lesson was submitted by David J. Cope, honors teacher at Titusville Senior High School, Titusville, Pennsylvania.