"Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe. In two volumes. Boston: John P. Jewett & Co., 1852. First edition.
"In the emotion-charged atmosphere of mid-nineteenth-century America “Uncle Tom's Cabin” exploded like a bombshell. To those engaged in fighting slavery it appeared as an indictment of all the evils inherent in the system they opposed; to the pro-slavery forces it was a slanderous attack on 'the Southern way of life.' Whatever its weakness as a literary work -- structural looseness and excess of sentiment among them - the social impact of Uncle Tom's Cabin on the United States was greater than of any book before or since." (Source: Printing and the Mind of Man).
When Abraham Lincoln met its author at the White House in 1862, he is said to have exclaimed, “So this is the little lady who made this big war?” For Harriet Beecher Stowe, the battle against slavery was a God-ordained crusade to cleanse the United States of an evil affront to humanity. Stowe presented her story in the style of popular works of the day, melodramatically and with religious undertones, but the themes of the novel – the breaking up of families, violence, the naive idea of a return to Africa – are historically significant. Stowe had not only witnessed incidents like the ones described in her novel, but had long been concerned about slavery, having read the autobiographies of Frederick Douglass and Louis Clark, as well as the abolitionist tracts.
When the Fugitive Slave Act was passed in 1850, Stowe began writing “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” It first appeared in serial installments in the abolitionist newspaper “The National Era.” Boston publisher John P. Jewett published the novel in book form on March 20, 1852, two installments before the conclusion of the serial in “The National Era.” The initial printing of the book sold out immediately upon publication and the book went through continual reissue for years. The book eventually sold more copies in the 19th century than any other book except the Bible. The Fugitive Slave Act, in combination with her book, were arguably the catalysts for the Civil War, as even Lincoln implied upon meeting Stowe.
"Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe. In two volumes. Boston: John P. Jewett & Co., 1852. First edition.
"In the emotion-charged atmosphere of mid-nineteenth-century America “Uncle Tom's Cabin” exploded like a bombshell. To those engaged in fighting slavery it appeared as an indictment of all the evils inherent in the system they opposed; to the pro-slavery forces it was a slanderous attack on 'the Southern way of life.' Whatever its weakness as a literary work -- structural looseness and excess of sentiment among them - the social impact of Uncle Tom's Cabin on the United States was greater than of any book before or since." (Source: Printing and the Mind of Man).
When Abraham Lincoln met its author at the White House in 1862, he is said to have exclaimed, “So this is the little lady who made this big war?” For Harriet Beecher Stowe, the battle against slavery was a God-ordained crusade to cleanse the United States of an evil affront to humanity. Stowe presented her story in the style of popular works of the day, melodramatically and with religious undertones, but the themes of the novel – the breaking up of families, violence, the naive idea of a return to Africa – are historically significant. Stowe had not only witnessed incidents like the ones described in her novel, but had long been concerned about slavery, having read the autobiographies of Frederick Douglass and Louis Clark, as well as the abolitionist tracts.
When the Fugitive Slave Act was passed in 1850, Stowe began writing “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” It first appeared in serial installments in the abolitionist newspaper “The National Era.” Boston publisher John P. Jewett published the novel in book form on March 20, 1852, two installments before the conclusion of the serial in “The National Era.” The initial printing of the book sold out immediately upon publication and the book went through continual reissue for years. The book eventually sold more copies in the 19th century than any other book except the Bible. The Fugitive Slave Act, in combination with her book, were arguably the catalysts for the Civil War, as even Lincoln implied upon meeting Stowe.