The 18th century French writer Voltaire once said, “To hold a pen is to be at war.” Being a writer, Voltaire understood the power and everlastingness that the written word carries upon the pages it is written on. Books have the power to enlighten the ignorant, shape opinions, challenge consensus, and effect change over the topics they cover. No such book is more evidence of this fact than Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Published in 1852, Uncle Tom’s Cabin would sell close to half a million copies only shortly after its release in March of that year; growing into a national phenomenon many credit with polarizing the discussion over slavery. When writing Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Stowe utilized targeted literary elements to craft a complex and emotional story that would capture the heart of Americans, and change the United States from a nation of slaves and slave drivers to a nation of free and equal men. …show more content…
The novel quintessentially covered a vast range of topics commonly discussed in America’s discus- sion over the morality of slavery as not just an intuition, but as a social construct as well. In do- ing so, Stowe emotionally charged America’s views on slavery, in turn polarizing the debate, and fostering an environment in which Americans on both sides of the issue were demanding