Harriet Beecher Stowe 
Uncle Tom’s Cabin 

Uncle Tom’s Cabin – Harriet Beecher Stowe – Uncle Tom’s Cabin is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe, published in 1852. After the publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Southerners accused Stowe of misrepresenting slavery. In order to show that she had neither lied about slavery nor exaggerated the plight of enslaved people, she compiled The Key to Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The Key to Uncle Tom’s Cabin was published to document the veracity of the depiction of slavery in Stowe’s anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. First published in 1853, the book also provides insights into Stowe’s own views on slavery. The book was subtitled ‘Presenting the Original Facts and Documents upon Which the Story Is Founded, Together with Corroborative Statements Verifying the Truth of the Work’. Harriet Beecher Stowe ( 1811 1896) was an American abolitionist and author. Her novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a depiction of life for African Americans under slavery. It energized anti-slavery forces in the American North, while provoking widespread anger in the South. She wrote more than 20 books, including novels, three travel memoirs, and collections of articles and letters. She was influential both for her writings and her public stands on social issues of the day.

About the author

Harriet Elizabeth Beecher Stowe was an American author and abolitionist, whose novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) attacked the cruelty of slavery; it reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential, even in Britain. It made the political issues of the 1850s regarding slavery tangible to millions, energizing anti-slavery forces in the American North. It angered and embittered the South. The impact is summed up in a commonly quoted statement apocryphally attributed to Abraham Lincoln. When he met Stowe, it is claimed that he said, ‘So you’re the little woman that started this great war!’