Harriet Beecher Stowe was one of the most influential writers and abolitionists in American history. Her novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, published in 1852, exposed the horrors of slavery and stirred up the anti-slavery sentiment in the North and the anger in the South. The book sold millions of copies and was translated into many languages. It is said that when Abraham Lincoln met Stowe in 1862, he greeted her as “the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war”
But what happened to Stowe after the Civil War ended and slavery was abolished? How did she spend the last years of her life and what was the cause of her death? In this article, we will explore the life and death of Harriet Beecher Stowe, the “little woman” who changed the course of American history.
Early Life and Education
Harriet Elisabeth Beecher was born on June 14, 1811, in Litchfield, Connecticut. She was the sixth of 11 children born to Lyman Beecher, a prominent Calvinist preacher, and Roxana Foote, a deeply religious woman who died when Harriet was only five years old. Harriet’s maternal grandfather was General Andrew Ward, a veteran of the Revolutionary War
Harriet enrolled in the Hartford Female Seminary run by her older sister Catharine, where she received a traditional academic education, uncommon for women at the time, with a focus on the classics, languages, and mathematics. Among her classmates was Sarah P. Willis, who later wrote under the pseudonym Fanny Fern
In 1832, at the age of 21, Harriet moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, to join her father, who had become the president of Lane Theological Seminary. There, she also joined the Semi-Colon Club, a literary salon and social club whose members included the Beecher sisters, Caroline Lee Hentz, Salmon P. Chase, Emily Blackwell, and others. Cincinnati’s trade and shipping business on the Ohio River was booming, drawing numerous migrants from different parts of the country, including many escaped slaves, bounty hunters seeking them, and Irish immigrants who worked on the state’s canals and railroads. Harriet met a number of African Americans who had suffered in those attacks, and their experience contributed to her later writing about slavery
Marriage and Family
In Cincinnati, Harriet met her future husband, Calvin Ellis Stowe, a widowed professor at Lane Theological Seminary and a staunch abolitionist. They married in 1836 and had seven children, four sons and three daughters. The Stowes supported the Underground Railroad, the network of secret routes and safe houses that helped fugitive slaves escape to freedom. They also befriended several prominent abolitionists, such as John Rankin, Theodore Weld, and William Lloyd Garrison
In 1850, the Stowes moved to Brunswick, Maine, where Calvin taught at Bowdoin College. That same year, the Fugitive Slave Act was passed, which required that all escaped slaves be returned to their masters and that citizens assist in their capture. The law outraged many Northerners, who saw it as a violation of their rights and a moral outrage. Harriet was inspired to write a story about the horrific institution of slavery, which she initially published as a serial in the National Era, an abolitionist newspaper. The story was later published as a book, titled Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly, in 1852
Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Its Impact
Uncle Tom’s Cabin was an instant bestseller, selling 300,000 copies in the first year and three million by 1860. It was also widely read in Britain, France, Germany, and other countries. The book depicted the lives of several enslaved characters, such as Uncle Tom, a pious and loyal slave who is sold and abused by his cruel master Simon Legree; Eliza, a young mother who escapes with her son Harry across the frozen Ohio River; and Eva, a saintly white girl who befriends Tom and dies of a terminal illness. The book also portrayed the slaveholders, both benevolent and brutal, and the abolitionists, both white and black, who tried to help the slaves. The book appealed to the emotions and the conscience of the readers, making them empathize with the suffering of the slaves and condemn the evil of slavery
The book had a profound impact on the public opinion and the political climate of the time. It galvanized the anti-slavery movement in the North and provoked the ire of the South, which accused Stowe of lying and exaggerating the conditions of slavery. The book also influenced the literature and the culture of the era, inspiring many imitations, adaptations, parodies, and critiques. It is widely regarded as one of the most important works of American literature and one of the catalysts of the Civil War
Later Years and Death
After the success of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Stowe continued to write and publish novels, essays, articles, and letters on various topics, such as women’s rights, education, religion, and social reform. She also traveled extensively, visiting Europe, the Middle East, and Florida. She met with many famous people, such as Queen Victoria, Charles Dickens, George Eliot, and Abraham Lincoln. She also supported several causes, such as the Sanitary Commission, which provided medical care to the soldiers during the Civil War, and the Freedmen’s Bureau, which helped the former slaves after the war
However, Stowe also faced many personal tragedies and challenges in her life. She lost four of her children, two to cholera, one to drowning, and one to meningitis. She also suffered from depression, headaches, and insomnia. She became estranged from her brother Henry Ward Beecher, who was involved in a scandalous adultery trial. She also had to deal with the criticism and the backlash from her controversial writings, such as The Minister’s Wooing (1859), which challenged the Calvinist doctrine of predestination, and The True Story of Lady Byron’s Life (1869), which revealed the alleged incest of Lord Byron with his half-sister
In her later years, Stowe’s health and mental faculties declined. She suffered from a mild stroke in 1879, which impaired her speech and memory. She also developed Alzheimer’s disease, which caused her to forget her own writings and repeat herself. She died on July 1, 1896, at her home in Hartford, Connecticut, surrounded by her family. She was 85 years old. According to her obituary, she died of a years-long “mental trouble,” which became acute and caused “congestion of the brain and partial paralysis”. She was buried in the historic cemetery at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, next to her husband, who had died 10 years earlier.
Harriet Beecher Stowe was a remarkable woman who used her pen and her voice to fight for justice and humanity. She left behind a legacy of words and ideals that continue to challenge and inspire generations of readers and writers. She was, in the words of her friend and admirer, John Greenleaf Whittier, “the most influential woman of her age, and perhaps of any age”.
