Anti-Tom literature

American 19th century pro slavery novels

Anti Tom literature consists of the 19th century pro slavery novels and other literary works written in response to Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. Also called plantation literature, these writings were generally written by authors from the Southern United States. Books in the genre attempted to show that slavery was beneficial to African Americans and that the evils of slavery, as depicted in Stowe's book, were overblown and incorrect.

First published in serialized form from 1851–52 (in the abolitionist journal The National Era), and in book form in 1852, Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe quickly became the best selling novel of the 19th century (and the second best selling book of the century after the Bible). This abolitionist novel focused on the evils of slavery and was inspired by the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act two years before, which punished those who aided runaway slaves. The book was highly controversial and fanned the debate over slavery in the country.

The response to Stowe's novel in the American South was one of outrage. To counter Stowe's novel, Southern writers produced many pro slavery books, the vast majority of them novels. In 1852 alone, eight anti Tom novels were published. These anti Tom novels tended to feature a benign white patriarchal master and a pure wife, both of whom presided over childlike enslaved people in a benevolent extended family style plantation. The novels either implied or directly stated the view that African Americans were unable to live their lives without being directly overseen by white people. Today, these novels and books are generally seen as pro slavery propaganda. The anti Tom genre died off with the start of the American Civil War.

The two most famous anti Tom books are The Sword and the Distaff by William Gilmore Simms and The Planter's Northern Bride by Caroline Lee Hentz. In a note in the book, Eastman proudly stated she was a descendant of the First Families of Virginia. Little Eva: The Flower of the South, by Philip J. Cozans, was a rare example of anti Tom literature intended to be a children's novel.