 | |
| Author | Martha Haines Butt |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Plantation literature |
| Publisher | Lippincott, Grambo & Co |
Publication date | 1853 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover & Paperback) & E-book |
| Pages | c.300 pp (May change depending on the publisher and the size of the text) |
Antifanaticism: A Tale of the South is an 1853 plantation fiction novel by Martha Haines Butt. [1]
Antifanaticism is one of several examples of the plantation literature genre that appeared in reaction to the anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, which had been criticised as inaccurately depicting slaveholders and slavery in general. [2]
Authors from the Southern United States sought to rectify this through their own series of pro-slavery novels. Examples of these include: Aunt Phillis's Cabin (1852), Uncle Robin, in His Cabin in Virginia, and Tom Without One in Boston (1853) and The Planter's Northern Bride (1854).
Butt explains in her novel that Antifanaticism is her first novel, [3] and invites Stowe herself to the south to see that the events of the book, though fictional, are based on reality rather than fiction, which she accuses Stowe of doing in the creation of Uncle Tom's Cabin .
The term Antifanaticism in the book's title is a neologism coined by Butt, prefixing the term Fanaticism with anti- (from the Greek αντί, meaning "against") to mean "against Fanaticism" (i.e. Abolitionism).
The story takes place somewhere in Virginia, and depicts a group of white plantation owners who put charity towards their black slaves before the harvesting and selling of the cotton on their own plantations, as well as successfully converting several troublesome abolitionists into friendly socialites through a process referred to throughout the novel as "Southern hospitality".
Antifanaticism was first published in 1853 by Lippincott, Grambo & Co, who had previously published the anti-Tom novel Aunt Phillis's Cabin by Mary Henderson Eastman in the previous year, [4] and would go on to publish Mr. Frank, the Underground Mail-Agent alongside Antifanaticism. [5]
Elizabeth R. Varon later criticized the book's writing in her 1998 book We Mean to Be Counted, commenting that Butt had neither the skill nor the ambiguity of Eastman's Aunt Phillis's Cabin. [6]
Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the U.S., and is said to have "helped lay the groundwork for the [American] Civil War".
Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe was an American author and abolitionist. She came from the religious Beecher family and became best known for her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852), which depicts the harsh conditions experienced by enslaved African Americans. The book reached an audience of millions as a novel and play, and became influential in the United States and in Great Britain, energizing anti-slavery forces in the American North, while provoking widespread anger in the South. Stowe wrote 30 books, including novels, three travel memoirs, and collections of articles and letters. She was influential both for her writings as well as for her public stances and debates on social issues of the day.
A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin is a book by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. It was published to document the veracity of the depiction of slavery in Stowe's anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852). First published in 1853 by Jewett, Proctor & Worthington, the book also provides insights into Stowe's own views on slavery.
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.
Aunt Phillis's Cabin; or, Southern Life as It Is by Mary Henderson Eastman is a plantation fiction novel, and is perhaps the most read anti-Tom novel in American literature. It was published by Lippincott, Grambo & Co. of Philadelphia in 1852 as a response to Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, published earlier that year. The novel sold 20,000–30,000 copies, far fewer than Stowe's novel, but still a strong commercial success and bestseller. Based on her growing up in Warrenton, Virginia, of an elite planter family, Eastman portrays plantation owners and slaves as mutually respectful, kind, and happy beings.
The Planter's Northern Bride is an 1854 novel written by Caroline Lee Hentz, in response to the publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852.
Uncle Robin, in His Cabin in Virginia, and Tom Without One in Boston is an 1853 novel written by J.W. Page and released by J. W. Randolph Publishers of Richmond, Virginia.
Little Eva: The Flower of the South is an Anti-Tom children's book by American writer Philip J. Cozans. Although its publication date is unknown, scholars estimated the release was either in the 1850s or early 1860s. The book follows Little Eva, the daughter of a wealthy Alabama planter. She is characterized through her kindness toward slaves as she reads the Bible to them and teaches the alphabet to slave children. On her ninth birthday, Little Eva nearly drowns, but is rescued by a slave named Sam. Her parents free Sam who decides to remain with the family because he loves them.
White Acre vs. Black Acre is an 1856 plantation fiction novel written by William M. Burwell.
The Black Gauntlet: A Tale of Plantation Life in South Carolina is an anti-Tom novel written in 1860 by Mary Howard Schoolcraft, published under her married name of Mrs. Henry Rowe Schoolcraft.
Life at the South; or, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" As It Is is an 1852 plantation fiction novel written by William L.G. Smith.
The North and the South; or, Slavery and Its Contrasts is an 1852 plantation fiction novel by Caroline Rush, and among the first examples of the genre, alongside others such as Aunt Phillis's Cabin by Mary Henderson Eastman and Life at the South; or, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" As It Is by W.L.G. Smith, both of which were also released in 1852.
Frank Freeman's Barber Shop is an 1852 plantation fiction novel written by Baynard Rush Hall.
The Cabin and Parlor; or, Slaves and Masters is an 1852 novel by Charles Jacobs Peterson, writing under the pseudonym J. Thornton Randolph.
The Lofty and the Lowly, or Good in All and None All Good is a novel by Maria Jane McIntosh published by D. Appleton & Company in 1853. It was one of many anti-Tom novels published in response to Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. The story is set is Georgia and tells of a plantation owner's efforts to avoid bankruptcy with the help of his loyal slave Daddy Cato. Their efforts are challenged by a northern usurer and devious northern capitalists. The book sold well across the United States upon release, making it one of the most successful anti-Tom novels in the middle 19th century.
Mr. Frank, the Underground Mail-Agent is an 1853 parody novel written by an unknown author credited as "Vidi".
Tit for Tat is an 1856 novel written anonymously by "A Lady of New Orleans".
The Ebony Idol is a plantation literature novel by G. M. Flanders, first published in 1860. It is one of several pro-slavery novels written in the Southern United States in response to the 1852 abolitionist novel Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe.
Mary Henderson Eastman was an American historian and novelist who is noted for her works about Native American life. She was also an advocate of slavery in the United States. In response to Harriet Beecher Stowe's anti-slavery Uncle Tom's Cabin, Eastman defended Southern slaveholding society by writing Aunt Phillis's Cabin: or, Southern Life As It Is (1852), which earned her considerable fame. She was the wife of the American illustrator and army officer Seth Eastman.
Martha Haines Butt was an American proslavery author primarily known by her maiden name. She was a contributor to various periodicals and magazines, in both the North and South. At the age of 19, she published Antifanaticism: A Tale of the South, an 1853 plantation fiction novel. Though she had written anti-woman's rights editorials in the 1850s, by 1870, she supported women's suffrage.
