Harriet Beecher Stowe's Life

Introduction

Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) published more than 30 books, but it was her best-selling anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin which catapulted her to international celebrity and secured her place in history.

But Uncle Tom's Cabin was not Stowe's only work. Her broad range of interests resulted in such varied publications as children's text books, advice books on homemaking and childrearing, biographies and religious studies. The informal, conversational style of her many novels permitted her to reach audiences that more scholarly or argumentative works would not, and encouraged everyday people to address such controversial topics as slavery, religious reform, and gender roles.

Harriet Beecher Stowe believed her actions could make a positive difference. Her words changed the world.

Stowe the Writer

Stowe's passion for writing allowed her to

• Publicly express her thoughts and beliefs in a time when a woman could not speak publicly, much less vote or hold office
• Contribute financially to the Stowe family household income

"If you see my name coming out everywhere - you may be sure of one thing, that I do it for the pay"

Stowe's publishing career began before her marriage, with:

• Primary Geography for Children (1833) Her sympathetic approach to Catholicism, unusual for its time, won her the praise of the local bishop.
• New England Sketches (1835), a short story collection

Later works include:

• The Mayflower: Sketches of Scenes and Characters among the Descendants of the Pilgrims.(1843)
• "The Coral Ring" (1843) a short story which promoted temperance, and an anti-slavery tract.
• Numerous articles, essays and short stories regularly published in newspapers and journals

In 1851, The National Era's publisher Gamaliel Bailey contracted with Stowe for a story that would "paint a word picture of slavery" and that would run in installments. Stowe expected Uncle Tom's Cabin or Life Among the Lowly to be three or four installments. She wrote more than 40.

Uncle Tom's Cabin, brought not only financial security, it enabled Stowe to write full time. She began publishing multiple works per year including the Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin, which documented the case histories on which she had based her novel, and Dred: A Tale from the Swamp, another and more forceful anti-slavery novel.

Other notable works include The Minister's Wooing, which helped American Protestants move towards a more forgiving form of Christianity while simultaneously helping Stowe resolve the death of her oldest son, Henry Ellis Stowe; The American Woman's Home, a practical guide to homemaking, co-authored with sister Catharine Beecher; and Lady Byron Vindicated, which strove to defend Stowe's friend Lady Byron and immersed Stowe herself in scandal.

In all, Harriet Beecher Stowe's writing career spanned 51 years, during which time she published 30 books and countless short stories, poems, articles, and hymns.

A comprehensive bibliography for Harriet Beecher Stowe can be found at the University of Pennsylvania web site.

Marriage and children

In 1832, 21 year old Harriet Beecher moved with her family to Cincinnati, OH, where her father Lyman became President of Lane Theological Seminary. There she met and married Calvin Stowe, a theology professor she described as "rich in Greek & Hebrew, Latin & Arabic, & alas! rich in nothing else..."

Six of Stowe's seven children were born in Cincinnati, and in the summer of 1849, Stowe experienced for the first time the sorrow many 19th-century parents knew when her 18-month old son, Samuel Charles Stowe, died of cholera. Stowe later credited that crushing pain as one of the inspirations for Uncle Tom's Cabin because it helped her understand the pain enslaved mothers felt when their children were taken from them to be sold.

In 1850 Professor Stowe joined the faculty of his alma mater, Bowdoin College in Brunswick, ME. The Stowe family moved to Maine and lived in Brunswick until 1853.

The publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin

The first installment of Uncle Tom's Cabin appeared on June 5, 1851 in the anti-slavery newspaper, The National Era. Stowe enlisted friends and family to send her information and she scoured freedom narratives and anti-slavery newspapers for first hand accounts as she composed her story. In 1852 the serial was published as a two volume book. Uncle Tom's Cabin was a best seller in the United States, Britian, Europe, Asia, and translated into over 60 languages...

"I wrote what I did because as a woman, as a mother, I was oppressed and broken-hearted with the sorrows and injustice I saw, because as a Christian I felt the dishonor to Christianity - because as a lover of my county, I trembled at the coming day of wrath."

The Winter Home in Mandarin Florida

After the Civil War, the Stowes purchased a house and property in Mandarin, FL, on the St. John's River, and began to travel south each winter.

There were multiple reasons for their decision. The Beechers and the Stowes knew that racial equality required more than legislation; it also required education. Stowe's brother Charles Beecher (1815-1900) opened a Florida school to teach emancipated people, and he urged Calvin and Harriet Stowe to join him.

Newly expanded railroads also made shipping citrus fruits north a potentially lucrative business, and Stowe purchased an orange grove which she hoped her son Frederick would manage. The relatively mild winters of northern Florida were a welcome respite from Hartford winters and the high costs of winter fuel.

Harriet Beecher Stowe loved Florida, comparing its soft climate to Italy, and she published Palmetto Leaves, describing the beauties and advantages of the state.

Stowe and her family wintered in Mandarin for over 15 years before Calvin's health prohibited long travel.

Harriet Beecher Stowe resource list.