One Novel Divided a Nation — Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852)
In 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel made the North weep and the South rage. Lincoln called her 'the little woman who made this great war.'
A Writer's Weapon
Harriet Beecher Stowe had never witnessed slavery firsthand. But she had heard stories from escaped slaves, read newspaper accounts, and felt rage.
In 1851 she began serializing a story in an abolitionist newspaper. In March 1852, it was published as a book.
Title: Uncle Tom's Cabin.
The Numbers
300,000 copies sold in the United States in the first year. One million in Britain. It was the best-selling book of the century after the Bible.
Uncle Tom, Eliza, Simon Legree. The characters gave slavery a human face.
Two Reactions
In the North, people wept as they read. For many, it was the first time slavery felt like a story about real people rather than an abstract debate.
The South was furious. Sales were banned in eleven states. Books were burned. Counter-novels flooded the market.
Lincoln's Words
In 1862, in the middle of the Civil War, Lincoln invited Stowe to the White House.
He said:
"So you're the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war."
Published: March 1852 | Sales: 300,000 US, 1 million UK | Met Lincoln: 1862
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