Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp

by Harriet Beecher Stowe

"Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp" by Harriet Beecher Stowe is a novel published in 1856. The story follows Nina Gordon, a young plantation heiress, and the enslaved people on her failing estate, including her capable administrator Harry and the devout Milly. At its center stands Dred, a revolutionary maroon leader hiding in the Great Dismal Swamp, who preaches violent retribution against slavery. Stowe's second anti-slavery novel presents a more radical vision than "Uncle Tom's Cabin," featuring a black revolutionary inspired by real slave insurrection leaders.