Frank Freeman's Barber Shop
Encyclopedia
Frank Freeman's Barber Shop is an 1852
plantation fiction
novel written by the Reverend Baynard Rush Hall.
in response to the publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin
by Harriet Beecher Stowe
, which was criticised as inaccurately depicting plantation life as well as the relationship between slaveholders and their slaves.
Hall's novel is among the earliest examples of the genre, and focusses on the criticisms of Abolitionism
and how it may easily be exploited - a concept later visited in The Planter's Northern Bride
by Caroline Lee Hentz
(1854
).
" (Hall's term for abolitionists
), having been promised that freedom would also bring a prestigious career.
When Frank comes to the end of his journey, however, he realises that he has been deceived: his prestigious career is nothing more than running a seedy barber shop
frequented by his new abolitionist masters, and is paid meagre wages for his work.
However, Frank is soon discovered by members of the American Colonization Society
, who rescue Frank from his predicament, and pay for his passage back to Liberia
, his homeland, where he can finally live in peace.
1852 in literature
The year 1852 in literature involved some significant new books.-New books:*Manuel Antônio de Almeida - Memoirs of a Police Sergeant*Wilkie Collins - Basil: A Story of Modern Life...
plantation fiction
Anti-Tom literature
Anti-Tom literature refers to 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...
novel written by the Reverend Baynard Rush Hall.
Overview
Frank Freeman's Barber Shop is an example of the numerous anti-Tom novels produced in the Southern United StatesSouthern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
in response to the publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in 1852, the novel "helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War", according to Will Kaufman....
by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet Beecher Stowe was an American abolitionist and author. Her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was a depiction of life for African-Americans under slavery; it reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential in the United States and United Kingdom...
, which was criticised as inaccurately depicting plantation life as well as the relationship between slaveholders and their slaves.
Hall's novel is among the earliest examples of the genre, and focusses on the criticisms of Abolitionism
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
and how it may easily be exploited - a concept later visited in The Planter's Northern Bride
The Planter's Northern Bride
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.- Overview :...
by Caroline Lee Hentz
Caroline Lee Hentz
Caroline Lee Whiting Hentz was an American novelist and author, most noted for her opposition to the abolitionist movement and her widely-read rebuttal to the popular anti-slavery book, Uncle Tom's Cabin...
(1854
1854 in literature
The year 1854 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:* The Polyglotta Africana, an early classification of African languages based on field work under freed slaves in Freetown, Sierra Leone, is published by Sigismund Wilhelm Koelle....
).
Plot
The story focusses on a slave named Frank (later Frank Freeman), who is convinced to run away from his peaceful life on a southern plantation by "philanthropistsPhilanthropy
Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...
" (Hall's term for abolitionists
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
), having been promised that freedom would also bring a prestigious career.
When Frank comes to the end of his journey, however, he realises that he has been deceived: his prestigious career is nothing more than running a seedy barber shop
Barber
A barber is someone whose occupation is to cut any type of hair, and to shave or trim the beards of men. The place of work of a barber is generally called a barbershop....
frequented by his new abolitionist masters, and is paid meagre wages for his work.
However, Frank is soon discovered by members of the American Colonization Society
American Colonization Society
The American Colonization Society , founded in 1816, was the primary vehicle to support the "return" of free African Americans to what was considered greater freedom in Africa. It helped to found the colony of Liberia in 1821–22 as a place for freedmen...
, who rescue Frank from his predicament, and pay for his passage back to Liberia
Liberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
, his homeland, where he can finally live in peace.
In other works
- Chapter VII of Freeman - entitled The Death of Dinah - is strongly echoed in a later anti-Tom novel: Uncle Robin, in His Cabin in Virginia, and Tom Without One in BostonUncle Robin, in His Cabin in Virginia, and Tom Without One in BostonUncle 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...
by J.W. Page (18531853 in literatureThe year 1853 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*Charles Dickens writes Bleak House, the first English novel to feature a detective.*William Wells Brown becomes the first African American novelist to be published.-New books:...
), in which another character also named Dinah passes away as a redeemed ChristianChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, as does the character of Dinah in Hall's novel. It should be noted, however, that the death of a Christianized slave was a frequent cliche used in anti-Tom novels, and another example of this is the death of Aunt Phillis in Eastman's Aunt Phillis's CabinAunt Phillis's CabinAunt 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 Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, published...
.
- The 1853 novel Liberia; or, Mr. Peyton's ExperimentsLiberia; or, Mr. Peyton's ExperimentsLiberia; 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...
bears some similarities to Freeman, particularly as both feature ex-slaves who are sent to LiberiaLiberiaLiberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
after leading miserable lives in the north.