Little Eva: The Flower of the South

Anti-Tom novels, like Little Eva: The Flower of the South, were written in response to Harriet Beecher Stowe (depicted in 1853).

Little Eva: The Flower of the South is an example of Anti-Tom literature, a literary movement created in response to Harriet Beecher Stowe's criticism of slavery in the United States in her 1852 novel Uncle Tom's Cabin.[5] The Anti-Tom novel was preceded by the plantation novel,[6] and while similar, they are separate types of literature.[7] Slavery received a more "incidental treatment" in plantation literature, but was more prominently featured in Anti-Tom literature.[7] Lisa Hinrichsen and Michael Pitts, writing for the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature, considered Little Eva: The Flower of the South one of the "key publications that serve to romanticize the South while condemning the abolitionist ideals of Stowe’s novel".[8] It is one of the few instances of Anti-Tom children's literature.[2][lower-alpha 2] Prior to the book's release, its writer and publisher Philip J. Cozans already had an established reputation in children's literature, and was likely motivated by John P. Jewett's success publishing Uncle Tom's Cabin to release Little Eva: The Flower of the South and Little Eva, the First Book.[10][lower-alpha 3]

In both of his Little Eva books, Cozans reimagined Little Eva, a minor Uncle Tom's Cabin character, as the protagonist.[14][lower-alpha 4] Historian Robert D. Morritt remarked that the Little Eva from Stowe and Cozans could be the same character "to a certain degree".[1] Other children's books had also elevated the character to the lead role,[14][15] including All about Little Eva, printed in 1853 by British publisher Partridge and Oakey.[14] In his version, Cozans introduced the "Flower of the South" nickname for Little Eva,[16] and made several revisions to her character.[2] Little Eva: The Flower of the South is set in Alabama rather than New Orleans, and Little Eva is rescued by Sam instead of Uncle Tom.[17] Cozans aged up Little Eva from six-years-old to nine-years-old.[2] Stowe and Cozans both characterized Little Eva through her kindness, but Cozans depicted her as not taking any issues with slavery.[17][18]

The exact publication date for Little Eva: The Flower of the South is unknown. Some scholars have placed it in either 1852 or 1853,[5][19][20] while other estimate a larger range between 1855 and 1861 or more generally in the 1850s.[10][11] Vincent Dill was the book's stereotyper,[10] and its wood engravings were credited to J. Smith and Baldwin N.Y.[21] The illustrations are "hand-coloured",[22] and the back cover included advertisements for Cozans' other books.[4] The wrapper design was signed J.H.H., possibly the initials of artist Justin H. Howard.[21]

Cozans promoted Little Eva: The Flower of the South as an "Aunt Mary" book,[21][23] a tactic he used for other books.[24] This was a reference to Mary Low, who adopted Aunt Mary as a pen name to edit a children's version of Uncle Tom's Cabin entitled A Peep into Uncle Tom's Cabin. Despite the packaging, Cozans' book had no connection with Low. Due to a low demand, only three Uncle Tom's Cabin children's adaptations – Little Eva: The Flower of the South, Pictures and Stories from Uncle Tom's Cabin, and A Peep into Uncle Tom's Cabin  – were published in the 1850s.[23][lower-alpha 5]

Little Eva's role as a teacher (pictured) was discussed by scholars.

A prominent theme in the book is education during the slave period in the United States. The portrayal of Little Eva as an educator was first popularized by an illustration in the first edition of Uncle Tom's Cabin.[25] In the image, Little Eva engages in a "a pedagogical exchange with Tom",[26] which displaced the novel's description that he was her "confidant rather than pupil".[27] This idea was further expanded on by children's literature writers, like Cozans, and illustrators.[26] Stowe connected Little Eva with education in a more limited way,[27][28] by writing how she advised slaves to convert to Christianity and attend Bible readings whenever possible.[27] Unlike Cozans' book, in Uncle Tom's Cabin, Little Eva does not organize classes for slaves.[28][lower-alpha 6]

The book presents education through personalism, with a focus on how a "charismatic teacher mediates between the slave and the printed word" and an argument in favor of a "necessity and moral authority of white intervention".[28] Scholars noted that Little Eva is presented as the ideal Southern belle who uses teaching to fulfill the Noblesse oblige concept.[22][29] The Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media posed questions on the book's representation of "southern white girlhood", asking if southern adolescent girls really challenged slavery, the patriarchy, and the "late 19th and 20th century social order".[2]

Scholars have classified Little Eva: The Flower of the South as a proslavery work.[8][22][30] Throughout the book, the slaves are shown as "gratefully content", and graphic content from Uncle Tom's Cabin, like the abuse of a young slave girl named Topsy, is absent.[2] American literature professor Deborah C. De Rosa approached the book as an "embattled text" instead. According to De Rosa, Little Eva can be understood as a "young abolitionist heroine" based on her decision to teach slaves.[3] De Rosa said this in turn imbues the book with an "abolitionist impetus".[29]

De Rosa's reading was contested by children's literature professor Paula T. Connolly, who cited Sam's refusal to live as a freedman, as well as the descriptions of the slaves' happiness on the plantation, as contradictory evidence.[29] Academic Marcus Wood wrote that, although Little Eva illegally teaches slaves, the book is still a "positive advertisement for the benign authoritarianism and Christianity of the slave system". Wood added that this proslavery message is clearly demonstrated through the descriptions of how the slaves idolize Little Eva.[22]