The first half of a passage from theBook of Jeremiah (13:23) is included on the title page: "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?" While the full passage is about evildoers refusing to turn away from evil to good,[4][5] the title conveys the idea that, as leopards could not change their spots, people of African origin could not change what Dixon, as a racist andwhite supremacist,[1] viewed as inherently negative character traits.
Harriet Beecher Stowe's landmark novel of 1852,Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly, had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the U.S. and is said to have "helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War".[6] It was still widely read fifty years after its publication. According to Dixon, whose contact with the work was a dramatized version, Stowe "grossly misrepresent[ed]" the American South, and he felt her sympathetic portrayal of African Americans demanded revision. So as to make it clear he is answering Stowe, he presents his version of Stowe's characters, using Stowe's character names.[7]
Simon Legree – InUncle Tom's Cabin; a cruel master, hateful of religion, superstitious, and determined to “break” Tom
Tom Camp – In Stowe's novel Tom (no last name) is a humble African-American slave and "Mr. Shelby's best hand". Dixon's Tom is a former Confederate soldier, a poor white Christian whose family is victimized by black men.
Hon. Tim Shelby – Political boss. InUncle Tom's Cabin Arthur Shelby was Tom's owner, who "sold him South". His son George Shelby is also a character.
^Crowe, Karen (1984). "Preface". In Crowe, Karen (ed.).Southern horizons : the autobiography of Thomas Dixon.Alexandria, Virginia: IWV Publishing. pp. xvii–xviii.OCLC11398740.
Media related toThe Leopard's Spots at Wikimedia Commons
The full text ofThe Leopard's Spots at Wikisource
The leopard's Spots public domain audiobook atLibriVox