In addition to her literary efforts, Harriet Beecher Stowe actively participated in the abolitionist movement and advocated for women’s rights. She wrote numerous articles and essays in support of the abolitionist cause, emphasizing the moral imperative of ending slavery.. [1]
Harriet Beecher, born on 14 June 1811, was the sixth child of Congregational minister, Lyman Beecher, and his wife Roxana Foote Beecher, a deeply religious woman who died when Harriet was only five years old. She grew up in an atmosphere of learning and moral earnestness with her older sister, Catherine having a big influence on her. Over the course of three marriages, her father, Lyman Beecher, had 13 children, 11 of whom survived into adulthood and all seven of his surviving sons became ministers. Henry Ward Beecher carried on his father’s abolitionist mission and, according to legend, sent rifles to anti-slavery settlers in Kansas and Nebraska in crates marked “Bibles.”
Harriet Beecher Stowe is best known for writing one of the most influential books of all time – Uncle Tom’s Cabin published in 1852 which sold 10,000 copies in the U.S. in its first week and 300,000 in the first year.
There is a story that when Abraham Lincoln met her, he credited her with writing the book that started the American Civil War. Even though it was a book with a purpose, and is at times painfully religious, it is still a good read and will keep your attention. The scene depicting Eliza grabbing her child and leaping over the moving ice of the Ohio River was incredibly famous in its day and is still a very moving and exciting scene today. This is a novel that makes you see all too clearly why slavery had to be abolished. Northerners loved it, and Southerners hated it, but the book certainly had an amazing effect.
Stowe wrote 30 books, including novels, three travel memoirs, and collections of articles and letters. She was influential both for her writings and for her public stances and debates on social issues of the day.
Harriet Beecher Stowe died on 1 July 1896, aged 85.