HARRIET BEECHER STOWE

BIO

• Born in Litchfield, Conn. On June 14, 1811
• Grew up in a powerful and very demanding individuals.
• Her father, Lyman Beecher, was a fiery, evangelical Calvinist
• Her mother, Roxana Foote Beecher, died when Harriet was 4
• She left a legacy of quiet gentleness and uncle Samuel Foote

CARREER

• October 1832, the Beecher family moved to Cincinnati
• The elder Beecher became director of the Lane Theological Seminary
• The elder sister opened her Western Female Institute where Harriet taught
• In 1834, Harriet began to write for "Western Monthly Magazine"
• She was rewarded a $50 dollar award for her tale " A New England Sketch"

CAREER CONT.

• Her writing became sketchy for the next 16 years
• She married Calvin Ellis Stowe on Jan. 6, 1836
• He was a professor in the Lane Seminary and together had seven children

ABOLITIONIST

• In 185o, Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act
• Stowe's Father and her 5 brothers preached against the act from puplits
• Harriet wrote parables, like those in the Bible, would inspire readers to turn from sin
• Felt sympathy for slave mothers who were separated from their children
• Lost her child, Calvin, to cholera in 1849

UNCLE TOM'S CABIN

• Clavin Stowe was called to a chair at Bowdoin College in Maine
• Harriet began writing "Uncle Tom's Cabin" that was in serial form in 1851-1852
• The book sold 300,000 copies in its first year and 10,000 in the first week
• In the first year, the book published half a million of copies
• Stowe answered critics in 1853 with "A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin" to document facts on the novel

UNCLE TOM'S CABIN QUOTES

• "The passage in 'Uncle Tom' Talks about St.Clare describing his mother's influence"
• "It was a simple reproduction of my own mother's influence as it has always been felt in the family"
• From the book "Life of Harriet Beecher Stowe
• Stowe met Abraham Lincoln for her book in 1862
• Commented, " So you're the little woman who wrote the book that started this Great War."

ESTABLISHMENT

• Stowe responded to her success by traveling widely
• She received in England and on the Continent a perfect wave of acclamation
• Also published her novel "Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp" another slave novel
• Over 100,000 copies were sold in England in the first month
• Stowe's reputation for years to come was connected with the didactic power of her first two novels

LATER YEARS

• Stowe began touring again in 1869, renewing an earlier friendship with Lord Byron's widow
• Published "Lady Byron Vindicated" char hinge the dead poet for violating his marriage
• Stowe continued her life in Florida with her husband to manage the income from literary activities
• Stowe died in Hartford, Conn. on July 1, 1896