Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Civil War

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Abraham Lincoln once told Harriet Beecher Stowe,”So you’re the little lady who wrote the book that made this great war”(Hillstrom and Baker 431). Harriet Beecher Stowe, in a way, did start the Civil War, one of the bloodiest battles in American history. She tried her hardest to abolish slavery and never gave up on the slaves no matter what obstacles there were along the road. Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin, helped release slaves during the Civil War, and also worked to abolish slavery in her life.
Harriet Beecher was always a good writer, even when she was young. When she was young, she won an essay contest. Besides winning essay contests, she also wrote an essay for her high school graduation. In the future, writing would be her life. She married her husband Calvin Stowe and to help finance her poor family, wrote articles to make money. What she didn’t know was that one day her writing would make a huge impact in America and also around the world(Haugen 20-32).
When one of Stowe’s child died a few months after his birth, she despaired over him and thought she knew what a slave mother would feel like if her child was taken away from her(Haugen 38). She used those feeling and wrote the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The book was written when the Fugitive Slave Act was known to public(Harriet Beecher Stowe). The book was based on her experiences, the underground railroad, and also the antislavery movement(The Harriet Beecher Stowe Center). Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a huge hit among Americans(Harriet Beecher Stowe). It was originally supposed to be just three to four sections in an antislavery newspaper. Eventually, the story got extended to more than 40 sections in the newspaper(Uncle Tom’s Cabin). When it was made into a book, stores ...

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...ion farm and employed old slaves with her son Frederick Stowe as manager.
In the end, Harriet Beecher Stowe made a big difference to America and around the world about the views of slavery. She had accomplished many things which included writing Uncle Tom’s Cabin, meeting with Lincoln to discuss about signing the Emancipation Proclamation, and also did many other things besides writing in her life to protest against slavery. Without Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin wouldn’t have been written and it wouldn’t have persuaded millions of people against slavery. Lincoln would have most likely been slower to sign the Emancipation Proclamation and the Unions wouldn’t have more soldiers to help fight against the confederates, which would have made the war last even longer. Even so, lots of people would remember Harriet Beecher Stowe as “the little lady who made this great war”.

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