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The power of writing: how literature impacted the Civil Rights movement

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Nottingham chapter.

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s 1852 novel ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ tells the story of how the deeply religious enslaved man, Tom, was separated from his family and sold by a Kentucky plantation owner. The presentation of the religious and likeable protagonist Tom in the face of the cruelty of his slave owner Simon Legree (who beat Tom as he hated Tom’s religiosity) impacted many; over 300,000 copies were sold in the first year. Whilst it’s often difficult to assess the impact of novels, few contemporaries doubted the fact that it generated Northern sympathy for enslaved people as it was able to reach and educate previously unaware Northerners about the horrors of slavery. An effect of this was an increase in North-South hostility that culminated during the Civil War. The political value of literature can be seen in the fact that this work increased abolitionist sympathy to the point that supposedly when Stowe met Lincoln, he said ‘so you’re the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war’. The book’s effectiveness is attested by the Southern literary response, as it provoked over 20 opposing novels portraying slavery as a kind institution.

Further, alternative parts of the text, such as illustrations, aided improvement in white social attitudes towards enslaved people. Stowe’s book unusually had illustrations drawn by Hammatt Billings, which emphasised Tom’s Christianity and close relationship with Eva (a young white girl). In fact, the second edition published in 1853 portrayed Eva sitting on her father’s lap and later Uncle Tom’s in a virtually identical pose. It’s clear that whilst it took a century for real strides towards equality between the races to appear, this early example of literature aided improvement in white social attitudes towards enslaved people, and arguably added political value in the form of the civil war and subsequent emancipation.

The main plot of Mark Twain’s ‘Huckleberry Finn’ follows change from slavery being acceptable to a social injustice. The plot specifically adds social value in this case, as the fact that the black character Jim sacrifices freedom to help Tom Sawyer after he gets shot leads readers to be pleased when Tom reveals that his recently deceased enslaver freed Jim in his will. However, in his apparent ambivalence about how to depict black characters, Twain’s authorship reflects the fact that whilst there was consensus outside the South that slavery was wrong, there remained a reluctance and/or inability of white Americans to see black Americans as equals. Therefore, while writing added value as it started the conversation of racial injustices, it was not until much later with ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ that we see literature tackling race-relations being received positively.

Harper Lee’s novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ tells the story of fictional lawyer, Atticus Finch, who agrees to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping ‘white trash’ Mayella Ewell. The book and the1962 movie version was also a large success. Atticus was a hero to generations of readers. The novel’s portrayal of Maycomb’s black community as dignified and respectable compared to the bigoted white community challenged white social perceptions of black people as dangerous or threatening. For example, the white-trash Ewell family was a microcosm of racism in the United States, condemning racism and challenging white perceptions. For these reasons, many have claimed that the book aided the civil rights movement, notably Martin Luther King’s close associate Andrew Young. He stated that the book ‘inspires hope in the midst of chaos and confusion’. Further, Mark Childress highlighted how it ‘forced southerners to understand the racism they’ve been brought up with’. These factors provide evidence that literature such as Harper Lee’s can positively shape views on race, albeit the fact that such shaping is often difficult to quantify.

It is clear that literature holds political and social value that can aid oppressed groups. Writing holds power to inflict positive changes, the civil rights of black Americans in the 19th and 20th centuries for example, and therefore it cannot be disputed that such pursuits held, and still hold today, instrumental value.

Rachael Lewis

Nottingham '26

Rachael Lewis is a new member of the Her Campus team. She writes about current affairs, seasonal advice, film and university life. She is currently studying English in her second year at the University of Nottingham, which inspires her passion for writing. In her spare time, Rachael enjoys baking, movie nights and playing squash incorrectly. She also likes making videos and rewatching the Office.