Temperance | Slavery: Two Points of View | Opponents of Slavery
Slave or Free? | Writing Virginia’s History

Debates over the immorality of slavery intensified following the publication of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin in 1852. Mary Henderson Eastman and Martha Haines Butt were two Virginia women who entered the political debate and wrote novels attempting to prove that slavery was a benevolent and wise institution.

Uncle Tom's Cabin; or Life Among the Lowly. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Boston: John P. Jewell & Co., 1852. Bound volume. The Library of Virginia

Aunt Phillis's Cabin; or Southern Life as It Is. Mary Henderson Eastman. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo, 1852. Bound volume. The Library of Virginia

Anti-Fanaticism; A Tale of the South. Martha Haines Butt. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo, 1853. Bound volume. The Library of Virginia