Historical Review of the Afro American People in America

ironworking, music and musical instruments, the decorative arts, and architecture. Those African characteristics helped shape American cultural styles because they brought their African words, religious beliefs, styles of worship, aesthetic values, musical forms and rhythms. The institution of slavery existed in the United States from the early 17th century until 1865. Slavery played a central role in the history of the United States. It existed in all the English mainland colonies and came to dominate agricultural production in the states from Maryland south. Moreover, eight of the first 12 presidents of the United States were slave owners. Many people talked about it and debates over slavery increasingly dominated American politics. This polemic eventually led to the American Civil War 1861-1865, which finally brought slavery as an institution to an end. 2. Racism One of the main issues in the world is racism. It cannot be separated from human’s history, including Afro American history. It existed from the existence of human race and will exist along with the human history. Sowell 1 states in his book Race and Culture: A world Wide View that “Racial, ethnic and cultural differences among people play a major role in the events of our times, in countries around the world, and the world, and have played a major role with the long history of the human race”. Racism may cause conflicts. The existence of racism will always be an act of despising to the value of humanity, because of one’s right to live in freedom no PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI matter what hisher skin colour is. Karenga 275 in his book Introduction to Black Studies says, “Racism is essentially a system of denial and deformation of the history and humanity of third world people people of colour and their right to freedom based exclusively or primarily on the specious concept of race”. The idea that a certain race is superior to others triggers slavery. That is why racism is very close to slavery. According to the article of Racism: The Precedent To Slavery In North America, cited from the internet, we must examine slavery as an institution and racism as a mentality defined by the oppressor, independent to the oppressed. The justification of the race based slavery that existed in North America started in the 17 th century. The Whites had bias to the Blacks. The Whites selfish mind, racist view and negative tendency towards the Blacks triggered race slavery in the North America constantly. As a result the Whites oppressed and exploited the Blacks for their own interests. In order to create a massive institution such as slavery that oppresses any people, the oppressor must view the oppressed as less than human, less deserving of human rights and the status of the Blacks became property not people. The Blacks had to serve their body and soul to the Whites. They did not have any rights to decide their life and future. Unfortunately, Africans who were very far from home could not find any help from anyone including their families and their countrymen that they were being treated badly. Eric Williams, through his book, Capitalism and Slavery 6-7, offers a different perspective that slavery was not born of racism, rather racism was the consequence of slavery. The slaves trading in America trading involved Indians, PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI the Blacks and even the Whites. Fortunately, the Africans showed better quality of being slaves, according to the masters. This condition made the Blacks were largely accepted as slaves. Slavery actually was more likely to be an economic necessity of the masters rather than moral, and was related to production.

C. Theoretical Framework

This study is set to analyze Tom’s struggle to get freedom from slavery in Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. In order to achieve the objectives, this study bases its discussion on some theories to answer the problems formulated in the problem formulation. In this part, the writer will explain briefly how the theories reviewed in the previous part are of this chapter are used in the discussion. The theories are theories of literature which consist of the theory of critical approaches, the theory character, the theory of characterization and ways of struggle. There are also historical review of Afro American people in America, racism and the theory of struggle. The first focus of this study is to analyze how Tom’s character is portrayed in the novel. The theory of character and characterization are used in the discussion. Theory of character is needed to figure out Tom’s role as one of the main character in the novel. Meanwhile, the theory of characterization is used to find out how Tom is portrayed in the novel and to examine Tom’s personality. The second focus of this study is to analyze how Tom struggles to get his freedom from slavery in Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The socio historical is appropriate to solve this problem. In order to explore the socio and historical aspects, I refer this PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI thesis to the history of African American, the theory of racism and the way of struggle theory. In other words, they are used as the guideline of answering how Tom struggles to get freedom from slavery. Those theories analyze much about the historical things and the condition of the society at the time Uncle Tom’s Cabin was written. Finally, we can understand how Tom struggles to get his freedom, to fight against such unfair condition that most African American suffered from, at that time. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

This chapter consists of three main parts; they are subject matter, approach of the study and the procedures. The subject matter contains a brief description of the novel. The approach of the study deals with the approach used to analyze the problems. The procedures of conducting this study are also explained in the last part of this chapter.

A. Object of The Study

The object of this study is Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel entitled Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Getting along with numerous slave accounts and Stowe’s interviews in 1851 and 1852, she finally wrote one of the most famous American books of the nineteenth century, published serially in one of the most popular abolitionist magazine called New Era. In March of 1852, the novel was firstly published by Boston publisher, J. P. Jewett, who published the work. This novel consists of 45 chapters of 519 pages. Uncle Tom’s Cabin novel was very phenomenal, it immediately broke all sales records of the day: selling half-a-million copies by 1857. The novel was quickly translated into 37 languages and it sold in five years over half a million copies in the United States. Uncle Toms Cabin was an attack against an institution of slavery that most Southerners had. However, Stowe believed that the Southerners who enslaved PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI