''The Planter's Northern Bride'' is an

1854 Events January–March * January 4 – The McDonald Islands are discovered by Captain William McDonald aboard the ''Samarang''. * January 6 – The fictional detective Sherlock Holmes is perhaps born. * January 9 – The Te ...

novel written by Caroline Lee Hentz, in response to the publication of ''

Uncle Tom's Cabin ''Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly'' is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two Volume (bibliography), volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans ...

'' by

Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (; June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American author and Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist. She came from the religious Beecher family and wrote the popular novel ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (185 ...

1852 Events January–March * January 14 – President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte proclaims a new constitution for the French Second Republic. * January 15 – Nine men representing various Jewish charitable organizations come to ...

Overview

Unlike other examples of anti-Tom literature (aka "plantation literature"), the title ''The Planter's Northern Bride'' is not a pun on ''

'', as was the case with '' Uncle Robin, in His Cabin in Virginia, and Tom Without One in Boston'' (1853). The novel, unlike previous examples of plantation literature, criticized

abolitionism in the United States In the United States, abolitionism, the movement that sought to end slavery in the United States, slavery in the country, was active from the Colonial history of the United States, colonial era until the American Civil War, the end of which b ...

and how easily anti-slavery organisations such as the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

could be manipulated by pro-slavery superiors – a concept previously discussed in Rev. Baynard Rush Hall's earlier anti-Tom novel, '' Frank Freeman's Barber Shop'' (

Plot

The book's main character is Eulalia, a young daughter of an

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

from

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

and the wife of a plantation owner named Moreland. At first indoctrinated by her father's views on abolitionism, Eulalia initially condemns her husband's use of slaves on his plantation – even though he is behaving benignly towards them – but she soon realises how well off Moreland's slaves truly are. As time passes, Eulalia also discovers a plot by a group of local abolitionists to stage a large-scale

slave rebellion A slave rebellion is an armed uprising by slaves, as a way of fighting for their freedom. Rebellions of slaves have occurred in nearly all societies that practice slavery or have practiced slavery in the past. A desire for freedom and the dream o ...

, with aims to "free" the otherwise-content slaves of the plantation and to murder both Moreland and Eulalia, despite their kindness to their slaves.

Publication history

Hentz's novel was first published in novelised form by T.B. Peterson Ltd. in 1854. The publishers of Hentz's novel had been responsible for the release of another anti-Tom novel two years previously: '' The Cabin and Parlor; or, Slaves and Masters'' by Charles Jacobs Peterson (1852).

References

External links

''The Planter's Northern Bride'' at the University of Virginia
1854 American novels Abolitionism in the United States Anti-Tom novels {{1850s-novel-stub