Stephen Foster‘s anthem recounts Harriet Beecher Stowe‘s famous novel, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”: 

Foster initially composed the song as “Poor Uncle Tom, Good Night”:

…but later changed the lyrics from blackface dialect to standard English.

SEE ALSO:

• 
  Foster’s “Old Folks at Home”, & our mention of Eastman Johnson’s painting, “My Old Kentucky Home”…

RESOURCES:

• “My Old Kentucky Home” @ wikipedia >>
• Matthew Shaftel positions Foster as “seeking to balance the marketing potential of his works with a growing abolitionist perspective” in his Music & Politics article, “Singing a New Song: Stephen Foster and the New American Minstrelsy”)
• WNYC explores the history and legacy of Foster’s song in “The Hidden Racial History of ‘My Old Kentucky Home’” >>