{"id":2797,"date":"2019-08-30T02:42:46","date_gmt":"2019-08-30T02:42:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/?p=2797"},"modified":"2026-02-12T07:52:42","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T07:52:42","slug":"harriet-beecher-stowe-and-uncle-toms-cabin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/harriet-beecher-stowe-and-uncle-toms-cabin\/","title":{"rendered":"Harriet Beecher Stowe and Uncle ‘Tom’s Cabin’: A Detailed Biography"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Harriet Beecher Stowe was a famous American author who was a significant figure in the\u00a0American Abolitionist Movement<\/a>\u00a0of the 19th century.\u00a0 Today she is best remembered for the novel \u2018Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin\u2019 which she published in novel form in 1852.\u00a0 The novel was an important work at the time for the abolitionist movement as it brought to light the realities of\u00a0life for slaves in the United States<\/a>.\u00a0 In fact, it was considered a significant factor in the lead up to the\u00a0American Civil War<\/a>, which began in 1861.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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HARRIET BEECHER STOWE’S EARLY LIFE<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Harriet Beecher Stowe was born on June 14th, 1811 in Litchfield, Connecticut.  Her parents were devout Christians.  For instance, her father, Lyman Beecher, was a preacher.  Her mother, Roxana Foote, died when Harriet was just five years old.  Regardless, Harriet Beecher Stowe received an education that few girls in time did, and was trained in many different fields of academics.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1832, Stowe moved to Cincinnati, Ohio.  In Cincinnati she continued her academic life, especially in relation to writing.  However, she also gained insights into the life of different types of people.  For instance, in Cincinnati she witnessed different aspects of the slave trade and slave life in America.  For example, she saw many escaped slaves who had fled from plantations in the Southern states.  Furthermore, she was exposed to the main ideas of abolitionism at the time.  This was significant for Stowe because it eventually helped form her basis for writing her most famous work titled \u2018Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin\u2019.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harriet Beecher Stowe\u2019s abolitionist views further in January of 1836 when she married Calvin Ellis Stowe.\u00a0 Calvin was an educated professor of literature and held anti-slavery views.\u00a0 In fact, the couple were known to support the activities of the Underground Railroad<\/a>, by housing escaped slaves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Harriet
‘Harriet Beecher Stowe’ Portrait by Alanson Fisher (1853)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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HARRIET BEECHER STOWE’S ‘UNCLE TOM’S CABIN’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As stated above, Harriet Beecher Stowe was inspired to write her novel \u2018Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin\u2019 due to what she witnessed occurring in the society around her.  However, it should also be noted that she was inspired by other first-hand slave narratives from the time.  Regardless, she first published the famous work in a weekly serial format in the newspaper from Washington D.C. titled \u2018The National Era\u2019.  This means that small portions of her novel were published in the newspaper each week.  In fact, there was a weekly installment of \u2018Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin\u2019 publish each week from June 5th, 1851, until April 1st, 1852.  \u2018The National Era\u2019 newspaper was focused on abolitionist viewpoints and was published from 1846 to 1860, which are the main years before the lead up to the American Civil War.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Uncle
Uncle Tom’s Cabin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Due to the success of the serial publication in the newspaper, publisher John P. Jewett approached Stowe about publishing the story in a novel format.  As such, \u2018Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin\u2019 was published as a novel on March 20th in 1852.  It was a successful publication and sold more than 300,000 copies in the first year.  It continued its success around the world and was published in multiple different languages.  However, outside of the United States, \u2018Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin\u2019 was most successful in Britain.  In fact, it is estimated that as many as 1.5 million copies of the novel were in circulation in Britain by 1862.  For the time frame, this was an incredibly successful publication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At its heart, \u2018Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin\u2019 was a story about the hardships of slavery and how they impacted different aspects of American life.  It follows the experiences of a few main characters, of which \u2018Uncle Tom\u2019 was one.  More specifically, Uncle Tom was a slave who was sold and transported across different parts of the United States.  During his journeys, Tom was viewed as a devout Christian.  As such, Stowe wrote his character in order to help readers empathize with him.  Therefore, from an abolitionist viewpoint, Stowe was trying to make people view slavery and slaves in a new light.  Her anti-slavery views were well received in the Northern states of the United States.  However, in the Southern states, Stowe and \u2018Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin\u2019 were viewed quite negatively, with some people openly criticizing her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Uncle
Uncle Tom’s Cabin Artwork<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Regardless, some historians have argued that \u2018Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin\u2019 had an impact on the outbreak of the American Civil War.\u00a0 As stated above, Stowe\u2019s famous novel was published in 1852.\u00a0 This means that it was published less than a decade before the start of the Civil War.\u00a0 Obviously, the novel supported the main points of the\u00a0American Abolitionist Movement\u00a0at the time. The American Abolitionist Movement<\/a> is the name for the advancements made in the United States towards ending the practise of slavery.\u00a0 For instance, the term \u2018abolition\u2019 means to stop or end something.\u00a0 As such, an abolitionist is someone who was working to ban slavery.\u00a0 The American Abolitionist Movement is considered to have occurred from the late 1700s until 1865 when the American government abolished slavery following the end of the American Civil War.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The publication of \u2018Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin\u2019 also highlighted the growing divide between the Northern and Southern states on the issue of slavery. While slavery remained quite popular in the South states, many Northerners began to openly oppose it.\u00a0 This divide led to the eventual outbreak of the Civil War<\/a> in 1861.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, there is also a historical claim that\u00a0American President Abraham Lincoln<\/a>\u00a0commented on the impact of \u2018Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin\u2019 in relation to the American Civil War. \u00a0For instance, Harriet Beecher Stowe met with Lincoln on November 25th in 1862, during the early years of the Civil War.\u00a0 At this meeting, it has been stated that Lincoln comment the following: \u201cSo you are the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war.\u201d\u00a0 This would imply that Lincoln felt that Stowe\u2019s novel played a role in the start of the Civil War.\u00a0 It should be noted that this claim has not necessarily been confirmed.\u00a0 Regardless, whether or not \u2018Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin\u2019 led to the Civil War, it certainly highlighted the growing divide that existed in the United States in terms of the issue of slavery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Abraham
‘Abraham Lincoln’ by George Peter Alexander Healy. (1869)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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HARRIET BEECHER STOWE’S LATER YEARS & DEATH<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In her later years, Stowe split her time between property she purchased in Florida and pursuits she undertook in Connecticut.  For instance, during the years after \u2018Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin\u2019 she worked briefly as a magazine editor and helped open an arts school in Hartford.  As well, she promoted the idea of women\u2019s rights and pushed for more equality in society.  However, Stowe struggled with her health in her later years.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Modern historians believe that Harriet Beecher Stowe may have struggled with Alzheimer\u2019s Disease or dementia in her later years.  For instance, it was reported that she suffered from mental illness from about the time of 1888.  She was approximately 77 years old at this point.  Supposedly, Stowe had lost her memory and spent her days rewriting \u2018Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin\u2019 as she believed she was writing it for the first time.  She eventually died on July 1st, 1896 in Hartford Connecticut.  Today, she is remembered for the incredible impact she had on American literature, and the practise of slavery in the United States.  \u2018Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin\u2019 has gone on to several different versions, including dramatic plays and movies.  It has also inspired other writers and artists to compose their own works.\u200b<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Harriet Beecher Stowe was an American author and abolitionist best known for her novel ‘Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin’. This article details the life and significance of Harriet Beecher Stowe, especially in relation to American history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5080,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":11,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,58,100,36],"tags":[89,57,18,15,71],"class_list":["post-2797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-civil-war","category-american-history","category-biography","category-slavery-in-the-united-states","tag-american-civil-war","tag-american-history","tag-biography","tag-history","tag-slavery-in-the-united-states"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2797"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2797\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5085,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2797\/revisions\/5085"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}