The novel Uncle Toms Cabin as written by Harriet Beecher Stowe and published in the United States in 1852. The novel depicted slavery as a moral evil and was the cause of much controversy at the time & long after. Uncle Toms Cabin had impact on various groups & publics. It caused outrage in the South and received praise in the North. It is in opinions and historical movements that the impact of this novel can be justified and shows how its publication was a turning point which helped bring about the Civil War.When Abraham Lincoln met Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852 after the beginning of the American Civil War, he supposedly said to her, So youre the little woman that wrote the book that started this Great War. Lincoln was referring to Stowe's novel Uncle Toms Cabin. It recounts the struggles of several African American slaves to preserve their families and survive the experience for slavery. This quote immediately implies that even the President of America had recognised and emphasised the impact of the novel on American Society as being the key cause to something as important as the Civil War.When Stowe began working on her fictional account of slavery, it was published in 1851 in weekly instalments in an anti-slavery newspaper. This meant that primarily it did not reach all types of audiences, it would at first only be read by abolitionist groups and Northern publics. It was primarily a morality tale meant to sway public opinion in the North. The character Uncle Tom is an African American who retains his integrity and refuses to betray his fellow slaves at the cost of his life. His firm Christian principles in the face of his brutal treatment made him a hero to whites. Tom was truly the first black hero in American fiction. In contrast, his tormentor Simon Legree, the Northern slave-dealer turned plantation owner, engaged them with his cruelty. Stowe convinced readers that the institution of slavery itself was evil, because it suppo...
