Harriet Beecher Stowe

Harriet Beecher Stowe is well known for writing the book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin; her life as a social reformist and her legacy will live on forever. Harriet Beecher Stowe was born on June 14, 1811 in Litchfield, Connecticut. She was born into a family under an evangelical calvigenist; Lyman Beecher drove his six sons and two daughters on strict paths to devotion. Stowe moved to Long Island, there she learned to read and write. In Long island she met African Americans; these indentured servants greatly disturbed her. I think this is where she first started becoming an abolitionist. When she left Long island she spent five years at Kilbourne’s school. At age ten she was first in her class, and at age eleven she wrote her first composition, and at age twelve she won her first award for her essay, “can the immortality of the soul be proved by the light of nature?” With this early education she survived and thrived in the learning environment. Stowe’s father often said, “if only little Hatty were a boy now, she’d do more’n any of ‘em.” I personally think this is a little sexist, but in those days that’s how things were; it’s really quite a shame. Although, it is women like Stowe that changed this social set back. Hatty’s father was a huge influence for her; in his attic she found and read Arabian Nights. She read this book over and over again. Once Stowe learned to read in Long island, she was always finding new things to read.

Nothing could quench her thirst for knowledge. One instance her father read to her The Declaration of Independence. Hatty later wrote, “I was ready as any of them to pledge my life, fortune, and sacred honor for such a cause.” I always thought that was hypocritical of them to put, “… that all men are created equal,” and then have slaves working on plantations. I can only imagine what affect it had on little Harriet. In 1833 Stowe crossed the Ohio River and saw her first plantation, many think that this provided her with her setting for Uncle Tom’s Cabin. By 1840, she was writing romantic stories for Godey’s Lady’s Book. Her fifteen stories and sketches were published into a collection called The Mayflower, about the descendants of the pilgrims. Stowe was now becoming the author she was always destined to be. While in church one day she had a very descriptive vision of a black man being beaten until he was on the edge of death, he forgave his tormentors and passed away. She went home and wrote down what she saw and drew a sketch. When she read it to her children they exclaimed, “Oh mama! Slavery is the most cruel thing in the world.” Her husband also commented, “Hatty this is the climax of that story… begin at the beginning and work up to this and you’ll have your book. From her she started to write Uncle Tom’s Cabin. It first appeared in weekly installments in the National Era between June 5, 1851 and April 1, 1852. Within two days the entire first edition had sold out, and after one year sales of the novel were estimated at more than 325,000 copies in America alone. World wide there are 3 million copies sold during Stowe’s life. Popular all over the world it was translated into many different languages. Stowe wanted to make her story very believable, to do this she had interviews with former slaves, she witnessed the selling of husbands and wives, and she even wrote to Fredrik Douglas. Abraham Lincoln said during a meeting with her, “So this is the woman who started the book war.” In the history of literature there has never been a more earth shattering story. Northerners and Southerners alike became aware of the wrongs done to so many people. For that reason this book is still read today, and still will be read for centuries to come; Harriet Beecher Stowe’s life, work, and Legacy will live on too.