Uncle Tom's Cabin

So you're the little woman who wrote the book that started this Great War!
Abraham Lincoln (Allegedly upon meeting Harriet Beecher Stowe)

About the Author

Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) was a white, woman, born in Litchfield, Connecticut. Her father was a Congressional preacher who encouraged intellectual debates among his children and also gave anti-slavery sermons. Harriet Beecher Stowe would go on to become a teacher and have small pieces published in local magazines before writing Uncle Tom’s Cabin. She was motivated to write Uncle Tom’s Cabin by the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1950. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was first published in serial form in the abolitionist newspaper, The National Era, and in 1852 was published as a two volume novel. The book sold 10,000 copies in the first week, became the most popular novel of its era, and translated into over 60 languages. In addition to Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which was by far her most famous work, Beecher Stowe also wrote poetry, essays, and a variety of non-fiction books. She died in Andover, Massachusetts, in 1896.

Plot Summary

The story follows the fortunes of a slave, the dutiful Uncle Tom, who is sold by his owner in Kentucky to pay off debts to Augustine St Clair in New Orleans. In the idealistic St Clair's household, young daughter Eva becomes fond of Tom and life is relatively happy. However, following the deaths of the decent St Clair and the kindly Eva, Tom is sold again but now to Simon Legree. Legree is a cotton plantation owner and treats Tom terribly, leading to his demise just before rescue belatedly arrives in the form of his original owner's son. There is also a parallel tale of another slave, Eliza, who escapes to freedom in extraordinary circumstances to lighten the tone somewhat.