Liberia; or, Mr. Peyton's Experiments

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Liberia; or, Mr. Peyton's Experiments
Author Sarah Josepha Hale (as Sara J. Hale)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre Plantation literature
PublisherHarper & Brothers of New York
Publication date
1853
Media typePrint (Hardcover & Paperback) & E-book
Pagesc. 300 pp (May change depending on the publisher and the size of the text)

Liberia; or, Mr. Peyton's Experiments is an 1853 novel by Sarah Josepha Hale, the author of the nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb", who wrote the novel under the name of Sara J. Hale. [1]

Contents

Background

Liberia falls under the category of plantation literature, a literary genre that emerged in the Southern United States in response to Uncle Tom's Cabin , which was criticised as inaccurately depicting slaveholding in the south. [2]

However, whilst the majority of such works attempted to defend slavery as an institution, Liberia argues that freed slaves cannot live prosperous lives anywhere but their native homes in Africa. [3]

Plot

The story follows Mr. Peyton, the eponymous slaveowner who wishes to free all the slaves on his plantation. However, before he can do so, Peyton wishes to make certain that the slaves in his charge will be happy in their new-found freedom, and so decides to conduct three separate "experiments" to test this.

In turn, Peyton sends his slaves to a farm in the Southern United States, an industrial town in the Northern United States, and finally to Canada. In all three cases, the slaves end up being even worse off than they had been under slavery, having been bullied by white supremacists who occupy all three places and dislike the presence of coloured people.

However, a despairing Peyton is approached by members of the American Colonization Society, who convince Peyton to send his slaves to their native home in Liberia, where they can be happy and free. Peyton and the slaves agree, and the freed slaves in Peyton's charge are sent back to Africa, where they can finally prosper and be free from discrimination.

Publication history

Liberia was first published in novelised form by Harper & Brothers of New York City in 1853. [3]

Relations to other works

Liberia shares some parallels to the 1852 anti-Tom novel Frank Freeman's Barber Shop by Baynard Rush Hall, which also featured a slave being sent to Liberia by the American Colonization Society after leading a miserable life in the Northern United States. [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>Uncle Toms Cabin</i> 1852 anti-slavery novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe

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."

American Colonization Society 19th-century American movement to send freed slaves to a colony in Africa (now Liberia)

American Colonization Society (ACS), originally known as the Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America, was founded in 1816 by Robert Finley to encourage and support the migration of free African Americans to the continent of Africa.

Anti-Tom literature

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.

<i>Aunt Philliss Cabin</i> 1852 anti-Tom novel by Mary Henderson Eastman

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 less 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.

<i>The Planters Northern Bride</i>

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.

<i>Twelve Years a Slave</i> 1853 memoir by Solomon Northup

Twelve Years a Slave is an 1853 memoir and slave narrative by American Solomon Northup as told to and edited by David Wilson. Northup, a black man who was born free in New York state, details his being tricked to go to Washington, D.C., where he was kidnapped and sold into slavery in the Deep South. He was in bondage for 12 years in Louisiana before he was able to secretly get information to friends and family in New York, who in turn secured his release with the aid of the state. Northup's account provides extensive details on the slave markets in Washington, D.C. and New Orleans, and describes at length cotton and sugar cultivation and slave treatment on major plantations in Louisiana.

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.

<i>Antifanaticism</i>

Antifanaticism: A Tale of the South is an 1853 plantation fiction novel by Martha Haines Butt.

White Acre vs. Black Acre is an 1856 plantation fiction novel written by William M. Burwell.

<i>The Black Gauntlet</i>

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.

<i>The Cabin and Parlor; or, Slaves and Masters</i>

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.

<i>Mr. Frank, the Underground Mail-Agent</i>

Mr. Frank, the Underground Mail-Agent is an 1853 parody novel written by an unknown author credited as "Vidi".

<i>Ellen; or, The Fanatics Daughter</i>

Ellen; or, The Fanatic's Daughter is an 1860 plantation fiction novel written by Mrs. V.G. Cowdin.

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.

Ann Randolph Meade Page

Ann Randolph Meade Page was an Episcopal slavery reformer. She was raised in her birth family with slaves and her husband was among the largest slaveholders in Frederick County, Virginia. She did not believe in slavery, and while she was unable to free slaves, focused on improving their conditions by teaching them to read and write, religion, a wide range of domestic skills and trades. After the founding of the American Colonization Society, and following the death of her husband, she emancipated enslaved people and prepared them to leave the United States for the colony of Liberia in Africa, where they and their family members would live free.

References

  1. "Hale's Liberia". utc.iath.virginia.edu.
  2. "Uncle Tom's Cabin Summary - eNotes.com". eNotes.
  3. 1 2 "Hale's Liberia". utc.iath.virginia.edu.
  4. "Hall's Frank Freeman". utc.iath.virginia.edu.