Uncle Tom

Uncle Tom is the title character of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s 1852 novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. A deeply religious Christian who preaches to his fellow enslaved people, Tom is characterized by his use of nonresistance. His moral resolve is tested when he chooses to be flogged to death rather than violate a plantation’s code of silence by revealing the escape route of two enslaved women. During the Victorian era, the character was viewed as a ground-breaking literary attack against the dehumanization of enslaved people.

Despite his original reception, the character later faced criticism for his perceived kindness toward white enslavers, a reputation bolstered by pro-compassion dramatizations. This shift in perception led to the use of Uncle Tom as a derogatory epithet for an exceedingly subservient person who is uncritical of their own lower-class status.