today we're looking at harriet beecher's stove
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for more resources that go along with many of the bell ringer videos harriet beecher stowe was a
writer and leading abolitionist of the mid-1800s at a time when women did not get to have a voice
on political issues stowe used her writings as a medium to fight against the institution of slavery
and give women a voice harriet was born harriet elizabeth beecher in litchfield connecticut
the sixth of 11 children born to lyman beecher who was a pastor and his wife roxanna beecher
when harriet was only five years old her mother roxanna died of tuberculosis as a child harriet
attended hartford female seminary in hartford connecticut unlike many girls of the time harriet
received a formal education in her youth at the age of 21 she moved to cincinnati ohio when her
father became the president of lane theological seminary living in cincinnati she was just across
the ohio river from kentucky where slavery was legal on several occasions harriet attended events
on the kentucky side and was exposed firsthand to just how terrible slavery was
it was also while here that harriet began writing short stories and joined some riding clubs
in one of these clubs she met reverend calvin stowe and in january of 1836 they were married
they would go on to have seven children together calvin encouraged harriet's writing and in 1850
calvin took a job teaching at bowden college in brunswick maine which incidentally bowdoin college
is also the college which joshua chamberlain taught at and remember chamberlain was the hero
of the battle of gettysburg for the union during the civil war but back to the stowes both calvin
and harriet were staunch abolitionists arguing for the elimination of slavery in the united states
the stowe's home was a stop on the underground railroad as they aided escaped enslaved people
in reaching canada and freedom harriet listened to stories from runaway enslaved people about their
experiences working on plantations in the south also in 1850 congress began debating and would
later pass the compromise of 1850 which included the fugitive slave act that made it much more
difficult for enslaved people to escape and forbid northerners from aiding escaped enslaved people
harriet was outraged by this new law as were many other northerners
at around the same time in 1851 harriet's 18 month old son samuel died she was overcome with grief
and her grief was channeled into her writing as she began to write a story about just how
terrible slavery was based on her numerous conversations with escaped enslaved people
in june of 1851 her story uncle tom's cabin was first published as a serial or a story that would
be released in short chapters in the newspaper the national era from june 1851 until april 1852 the
paper published each part of the story in march of 1852 uncle tom's cabin was published as a book
with a first run of 5 000 copies but within a year the book sold over 300 000 copies people in the
north were appalled by what they read and many of them had turned a blind eye to what slavery
was really all about but people in the south they were outraged claiming that the book was
false and did not truly depict the institution of slavery now i won't get into exact detail of the
story as i highly recommend you read the story for yourself but the story which is historical fiction
meaning the characters are fictional but it does accurately follow history but the story follows
the life of an enslaved person named uncle tom and what his life was like as an enslaved person in
1853 harriet also published another book called a key to uncle tom's cabin which included references
and testimonies to back up just how valid or true her book was to what slavery was actually like
the book sold well overseas as well and harriet went on a lecture tour in britain speaking out
against slavery she stated that the reason she wrote the book was to educate northerners on just
how terrible the institution of slavery was and to hopefully make southerners recognize that what
they were doing was wrong interestingly southern authors began writing novels known as anti-tom
novels that attempted to make southern society and slavery look acceptable but none of these novels
measured up to the popularity of stowe's work as the civil war began in 1861 stowe continued to
be a leading voice to eliminate slavery and in fact met with president lincoln in 1862 in 1864
the stove family moved to hartford connecticut and as the civil war came to a conclusion stowe
purchased property in jacksonville florida where the family spent their winters harriet continued
to write as well as argue for women's rights in 1886 her husband calvin passed away and it's
believed that after his death harriet began to suffer from alzheimer's or dementia and in fact
it's recorded that she began to write uncle tom's cabin over again believing that she was writing it
for the first time harriet beecher stowe died on july 2nd 1896 at the age of 85. stowe's writings
gave women a voice on political issues and aided in bringing to an end the institution of slavery
at a time when women did not get equal status in society she opened the door for other women to
play a more prominent role so with that hopefully you learned something and thanks for watching
you