Harriet Beecher Research Paper

Harriet Elizabeth Beecher, a major abolitionist supporter and activist, was born June 14 of 1811 in Litchfield, Connecticut. Her father raised her and her thirteen siblings, because her mother had died when Harriet was young. Harriet Elizabeth Beecher later became Harriet Beecher Stowe, and she was best known for her antislavery novels. Her most ambitious and best-known novel is Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a narrative of a fictional slave who is forced to work relentlessly, even in the face of tragedy. This book stirred up a lot of controversy regarding the slaves, which ultimately led to the Civil War. Harriet Beecher Stowe was a major figurehead of the abolitionist movement, because she knew that the men and women that were held captive in the

She had seven brothers and five sisters, and her father, Lyman Beecher, was left to raise them all when Harriet’s mother died of tuberculosis in 1816. As Harriet turned ten, she was introduced to the subject of slavery by the debate on whether Missouri should be a slave state or a free state. Her father, a local pastor, started to preach about the evils of slavery. When Harriet turned old enough, she attended Hartford Female Seminary, an all-girls school run by her elder sister, Catherine Beecher. At school, Harriet had begun to take a liking to all kinds of literature. After eight years of a strong education, Harriet and her family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. There, she joined a local literature group known as the Semi-Colon Club, and she worked on her writing ability. She formed a close bond with another member of the Semi-Colon Club, named Calvin Ellis Stowe. On January 6, 1836, Harriet married Calvin Ellis Stowe. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s early life laid the groundwork for what was to come in the next phase of her life.

She was not completely sure what to do at first, but after the Fugitive Slave Law was passed in 1850, it became clear to her that she should write a book expressing her strong feelings against slavery. She published her novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1852. The story describes the life of a kind slave named Tom and his treatment by his various owners. Much of this book described the brutality of slave owners, and its message of denouncing slavery was spread to everyone in America. The Northerners felt that they had found the exact manifestation of what made slavery so immoral and sinful inside Uncle Tom’s Cabin, but the Southerners loathed the book and everything it stood for. This book had so much controversy around it that almost every abolitionist had a copy, but it was dangerous to even carry the book into the South. Uncle Tom’s Cabin sold 1.5 million copies within four years of its publication. This book was one of the final steps which would lead to the complete division of beliefs between Northern and Southern America. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s accomplishments for the abolitionist party would eventually make her one of the most acclaimed abolitionists of all time.