Uncle Tom's Cabin

When Harriet, or "Hattie" as she was known by the family returned to Cincinnati, she cold not blot out the image of families being pulled apart with different slave-owners buying one member of the family and another buying another member. Her family had stood up against such kind of behavior and spoken out about how evil it was. She and her husband had even supported the Underground Railroad and housed several fugitive slaves in their home.

But she had to find a way to do something more to stop this evil in the country. God had given her a writing talent and she would use her hands to show what a terrible thing slavery was to every human being.

In June, 1851, the first installment of Uncle Tom's Cabin appeared in the anti-slavery journal of the National Era. Then the second installment appeared. Harriet watched and waited as the public began to read--first in the North and then in the South. In 1852 the book was published in a two-volume edition and sold 10,000 copies the first week it was on the market. It was either a rightful success or a terrible injustice, depending on which side you took on the issue. But everyone rushed to read a copy about the slave and the cruelty of his master!