I think there was an ethical argument to returning slaves who were seeking freedom. The South believed what they were doing was right. It was like a moral to them. Especially to the White. To them, it seemed fair and honest to do so. The Whites in those days believed that they were black because of their sins. The arguments about returning slaves who were seeking their freedom was that the slaves have no right and should be treated like animals because their a different color. The arguments against helping a slave find freedom is that they were to be thrown in prison or be killed. If I was in this position I would give the Blacks the same equal rights like the Whites. We are all human here.
I do believe that Uncle’s Tom Cabin affected history. It made people in the North aware of what it is reallly like to be a slave in the South. The lifestyle they lived before the Civil War. States that were in the North started to abolishh slavery which made it a big deal, because it started a war between the North and South states. The “Uncle’s Tom Cabin” changed the way Northerns viewed the slavery issue. The slaved were seen as human beings and not just property. I do think they can sway how people look at an issue because of all of this. And make and affect on history. 
Civil War Issues 