Harriet Beecher Stowe

Guide Note:Harriet Beecher Stowe was an American abolitionist and novelist. Her most famous work Uncle Tom's Cabin had a profound effect on American attitudes towards slavery.

Fast Facts:

1. Born: June 14, 1811
2. Uncle Tom's Cabin published in 1852
3. Died: July 1, 1896
4. It is rumored that upon meeting her Abraham Lincoln said, "So you're the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war."

1. "A man builds a house in England with the expectation of living in it and leaving it to his children; we shed our houses in America as easily as a snail does his shell."
2. "All places where women are excluded tend downward to barbarism; but the moment she is introduced, there come in with her courtesy, cleanliness, sobriety, and order."
3. "Any mind that is capable of real sorrow is capable of good."
4. "No one is so thoroughly superstitious as the godless man."
5. "To do common things perfectly is far better worth our endeavor than to do uncommon things respectably. "

The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 mandated the arrest of any fugitive slave by any federal marshal. A $1,000 fine was levied against all officials who failed to follow the new law. In response to the new law, Stowe;s sister-in-law wrote to her emploring her to use her writing talents to "...Write something that would make this whole nation feel what an accursed thing slavery is." Stowe conducteed extensive research, reading books, and interviewing fugitive slaves. Her book was hugely popular in the northern states and Britain, leaving an impression on its readers, and encouraging many to side with the abolitionists.