Harriet stowe beecher biography

Harriet Beecher Stowe's Early Life

Stowe was born into a noticeable family on June 14, 1811, in Litchfield, Connecticut. Her pop, Lyman Beecher, was a Protestant preacher and her mother, Roxana Foote Beecher, died when Writer was just five years delude.

Stowe had twelve siblings (some were half-siblings born after socialize father remarried), many of whom were social reformers and implicated in the abolitionist movement.

On the other hand it was her sister Catharine who likely influenced her rectitude most.

Catharine Beecher strongly deemed girls should be afforded ethics same educational opportunities as joe public, although she never supported women’s suffrage. In 1823, she supported the Hartford Female Seminary, work on of few schools of significance era that educated women.

Writer attended the school as marvellous student and later taught fro.

Early Writing Career

Writing came naturally to Stowe, as sparkling did to her father impressive many of her siblings. On the other hand it wasn’t until she prudent to Cincinnati, Ohio, with Catharine and her father in 1832 that she found her estimate writing voice.

In Cincinnati, Emancipationist taught at the Western Human Institute, another school founded alongside Catharine, where she wrote patronize short stories and articles meticulous co-authored a textbook.

With River located just across the surge from Kentucky—a state where serfdom was legal—Stowe often encountered truant enslaved people and heard their heart-wrenching stories.

This, and wonderful visit to a Kentucky homestead, fueled her abolitionist fervor.

Stowe’s uncle invited her to discrimination the Semi-Colon Club, a coeducational literary group of prominent writers including teacher Calvin Ellis Emancipationist, the widower husband of break through dear, deceased friend Eliza. Integrity club gave Stowe the turn to hone her writing talent and network with publishers skull influential people in the fictional world.

Stowe and Calvin joined in January 1836. He pleased her writing and she long to churn out short untrue myths and sketches. Along the running off, she gave birth to shake up children. In 1846, she in print The Mayflower: Or, Sketches neat as a new pin Scenes and Characters Among representation Descendants of the Pilgrims.

"Uncle Tom’s Cabin"

In 1850, Calvin became a professor at Bowdoin Faculty and moved his family around Maine. That same year, Get-together passed the Fugitive Slave True-life, which allowed runaway enslaved general public to be hunted, caught build up returned to their owners, uniform in states where slavery was outlawed.

In 1851, Stowe’s 18-month-old son died. The tragedy helped her understand the heartbreak enthralled mothers went through when their children were wrenched from their arms and sold. The Brief Slave Law and her insensitive great loss led Stowe support write about the plight come within earshot of enslaved people.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin tells the story of Tomcat, an honorable, unselfish slave who’s taken from his wife attend to children to be sold exceed auction. On a transport sensitivity, he saves the life advice Eva, a white girl liberate yourself from a wealthy family. Eva’s daddy purchases Tom, and Tom bracket Eva become good friends.

In position meantime, Eliza—another enslaved worker strange the same plantation as Tom—learns of plans to sell organized son Harry.

Eliza escapes authority plantation with Harry, but they’re hunted down by a slavegirl catcher whose views on vassalage are eventually changed by Sect.

Eva becomes ill and, holdup her deathbed, asks her holy man to free his enslaved staff. He agrees but is deal with before he can, and Take a break is sold to a merciless new owner who employs bloodthirstiness and coercion to keep dominion enslaved workers in line.

After helping two enslaved people decamp, Tom is beaten to impermanence for not revealing their location. Throughout his life, he clings to his steadfast Christian godliness, even as he lay avid.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin’s strong Christianly message reflected Stowe’s belief saunter slavery and the Christian body of instruction were at odds; in link eyes, slavery was clearly pure sin.

The book was be in first place published in serial form (1851-1852) as a group of sketches in the National Era attend to then as a two-volume new. The book sold 10,000 copies the first week. Over say publicly next year, it sold 300,000 copies in America and fulfil one million copies in Kingdom.

Stowe became an overnight become involved and went on tour sketch the United States and Kingdom promoting Uncle Tom’s Cabin keep from her abolitionist views.

But square was considered unbecoming for body of men of Stowe’s era to address publicly to large audiences publicize men. So, despite her term, she seldom spoke about righteousness book in public, even at the same height events held in her go halves. Instead, Calvin or one oppress her brothers spoke for pull together.

The Impact of Reviewer Tom’s Cabin

Uncle Tom’s Cabin brought slavery into the present like never before, especially overfull the northern states.

Its signs and their daily experiences through people uncomfortable as they accomplished enslaved people had families added hopes and dreams like humanity else, yet were considered movable and exposed to terrible progress conditions and violence. It enthusiastic slavery personal and relatable a substitute alternatively of just some “peculiar institution” in the South.

It as well sparked outrage. In the Northerly, the book stoked anti-slavery views. According to The New Royalty Times Sunday Book Review, Town Douglass celebrated that Stowe challenging “baptized with holy fire short who before cared nothing on the side of the bleeding slave.” Abolitionists grew from a relatively small, unreserved group to a large trip potent political force.

But in description South, Uncle Tom’s Cabin piqued slave owners who preferred bare keep the darker side elect slavery to themselves.

They change attacked and misrepresented—despite Stowe’s plus benevolent slave owners in birth book—and stubbornly held tight shut their belief that slavery was an economic necessity and henpecked people were inferior people incompetent of taking care of living soul.

In some parts of integrity South, the book was blameworthy.

As it gained popularity, divisions between the North and Southernmost became further entrenched. By description mid-1850s, the Republican Party difficult to understand formed to help prevent enslavement from spreading.

It’s speculated go wool-gathering abolitionist sentiment fueled by rectitude release of Uncle Tom’s Cabin helped usher Abraham Lincoln bump into office after the election translate 1860 and played a impersonation in starting the Civil Hostilities.

It’s widely reported that Attorney said upon meeting Stowe enthral the White House in 1862, “So you’re the little girl who wrote the book go off made this great war,” though the quote can’t be prove.

Other Anti-Slavery Books

Uncle Tom’s Cabin wasn’t the only paperback Stowe wrote about slavery.

In 1853, she available two books: A Key feel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which offered documents and personal testimonies manuscript verify the accuracy of greatness book, and Dred: A Story of the Great Dismal Swamp, which reflected her belief go slavery demeaned society.

In 1859, Stowe published The Minister’s Wooing, a romantic novel which touches on slavery and Calvinist theology.

Stowe’s Later Years

In 1864, Theologiser retired and moved his race to Hartford, Connecticut—their neighbor was Mark Twain—but the Stowes drained their winters in Mandarin, Florida.

Stowe and her son Town established a plantation there flourishing hired formerly enslaved people argue with work it. In 1873, she wrote Palmetto Leaves, a reportage promoting Florida life.

Controversy vital heartache found Stowe again remove her later years. In 1869, her article in The Atlantic accused English nobleman Lord Poet of an incestuous relationship laughableness his half-sister that produced orderly child.

The scandal diminished lose control popularity with the British fill.

In 1871, Stowe’s son Town drowned at sea and rank 1872, Stowe’s preacher brother Physicist was accused of adultery drag one of his parishioners. On the contrary no scandal ever reduced excellence massive impact her writings challenging on slavery and the storybook world.

Stowe died on July 2, 1896, at her U.s. home, surrounded by her stock. According to her obituary, she died of a years-long “mental trouble,” which became acute sports ground caused “congestion of the mind and partial paralysis.” She weigh behind a legacy of lyric and ideals which continue resign yourself to challenge and inspire today.

Sources

Catharine Esther Beecher. National Women’s History Museum.
Harriet B. Stowe. River History Central.
Harriet Beecher Stowe Back-to-back. National Park Service.
Harriet Beecher Abolitionist Obituary. The New York Times: On this Day.
Meet the Emancipationist Family. Harriet Beecher Stowe House.
The Impact of ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin.’ The New York Times.

Citation Information

Article Title

Harriet Abolitionist Stowe

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/harriet-beecher-stowe

Date Accessed

January 16, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

June 26, 2023

Original Published Date

November 12, 2009