Harriet Beecher Stowe
Jonathon Flores
Early Life
Harriet Beecher Stowe was born in Connecticut on June 14, 1811. She was the daughter of Lyman Beecher, a famous preacher/prohibitionist. She was raised in a religious family that, unlike many other families during that time, made sure all of their children, not just the men, received a formal education. Both her religious upbringing and education helped to influence her beliefs and writings later on in life.
Historical Importance
Uncle Tom's Cabin helped fuel tensions between both the North and South regarding slavery. The North was enraged by the descriptions of the slave life in in southern states and the South grew angry at what they believed were falsely exaggerated accounts. Exaggerated or not this book helped start the Civil War.
Death
Harriet Beecher Stowe died in 1896, outliving three sons, one daughter, her husband, and a brother. These losses, along with a ruined writing career and negative public perception, helped drive her deterioration as she aged. During her final days Mark Twain, her neighbor, described her saying, "Her mind had decayed, and she was a pathetic figure...".
Citations
"Toward Civil War." United States History to 1871. Np.:n.p.,n.d. N. pag.
Johnson, Paul David. "Stowe, Harriet Beecher 1811-1869." American Writers: A
collection of Literary Biographies, supplement 1. Ed. Leonard Unger. Vol. 2. New York:
Charles Scribners Sos, 1979. 579-601. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 19 Apr.
2016.
"Civil War." The World Book Encyclopedia. Chicago, IL: World Book, 2009. Print.
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