SOURCE: Riggio, Thomas P. “Uncle Tom Reconstructed: A Neglected Chapter in the History of a Book.” American Quarterly 28, no. 1 (1976): 56-70.

In the following essay, Riggio notes that southern Reconstruction writers, particularly Dixon, built on the legacy of Uncle Tom's Cabin to form a new image of white manifest destiny.

No American novel, not even Moby Dick, has so dramatic a history as the one written by “the little woman who wrote the book that made this big war.” Lincoln's witticism proved prophetic, as Uncle Tom's Cabin has occasioned an ongoing battle for over a century. A major critical effort of the last two decades has been the rescue of Mrs. Stowe's novel and, especially, of its chief character from the opprobrium that had befallen them. The debate is cultural as well as literary, and it centers on the evolving role of “Uncle Tom” as a key emblem in...