Aunt Phillis's Cabin; Or Southern Life As It Is

Mary H. Eastman's novel offers a portrayal of life in the American South particularly focusing on the experiences of African Americans living in slavery. The title itself Aunt Phillis's Cabin draws a clear parallel to Harriet Beecher Stowe's famous work Uncle Tom's Cabin which had been published just a few years earlier in 1852. In Aunt Phillis's Cabin Eastman likely provides a perspective from the Southern point of view aiming to counteract the abolitionist sentiment and anti-slavery narrative presented in Stowe's novel. Eastman's work may attempt to justify the institution of slavery and portray it as a benign or even positive aspect of Southern life. While Uncle Tom's Cabin became a powerful anti-slavery tool in the North and abroad Aunt Phillis's Cabin reflects the pro-slavery sentiments prevalent in certain circles of the Southern United States during the antebellum period.