For decades, American schoolchildren recited a poem by an author with this first name called “Sheridan’s Ride.” A musician with this first name composed “The Battle of Manassas” and was exploited for decades by his legal guardians, the Bethune family, after being ruled insane. A 19th-century blind, autistic pianist with this first name, who could play any composition after hearing it once, had the surname Wiggins. This was the first name of a minstrel show actor who popularized “Jump Jim Crow.” A book about a character with this name was the target of The Sword and the Distaff. George Aiken’s play about a character with this first name was adapted into nostalgic minstrel shows named after him. For 10 points, Josiah Henson inspired a character with what first name, whose story was adapted into a novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe? ■END■
ANSWER: Tom [or Thomas; accept Thomas Buchanan Read; accept “Blind Tom”; accept Thomas Wiggins; accept Thomas “Daddy” Rice; accept Uncle Tom]
<American History>
= Average correct buzz position