Harriet Beecher Stoowe Research Paper

Harriet Beecher Stowe Many women took part in the Civil war. Harriet Beecher Stowe was one of the many influential women involved in the Civil war. Harriet was a very important woman during the war because of her writings, her lifestyle, and especially her book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Writing was her backbone during her times of need. Harriet’s childhood lifestyle was a start to her influential career. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was an eyeopener for the community during this time period. Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe’s lifestyle encouraged her to be an essential woman during the Civil war. Her parents, Rev. Lyman Beecher and Roxanna Foote Beecher, expected her and her siblings to shape the world (”Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Lifestyle”). Including Harriet, all of the Beecher children were successful in some way. All seven of the sons became ministers, the eldest daughter
pioneered education for women, and the youngest daughter was a founder of the NWSA (National Women’s Suffrage Association) (”Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Lifestyle”). Harriet, following the tradition, became an abolitionist and author. When Roxanna Beecher passed when Harriet was just five, she began to paint and draw in her mother’s honor, as those were her mother’s hobbies. She learned how to establish a persuasive argument at their family dinner table because of the education they received from Tapping Reeve’s law school (”Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Lifestyle”). She was majorly influenced by her father’s teachings. Harriet had an influential lifestyle. Harriet Stowe began writing at an early age.
When she became an adult and had her own family, writing about her eldest son’s death allowed her to experience the pain enslaved mothers endured as they had their children taken away. His death also led her away from her father’s Calvinism and gave way to her views on Christian love (“Harriet Beecher Stowe”). Writing allowed her to express her opinion freely at a time women could not. It was also the only income for their household. Stowe’s early home training allowed her to enter the writing world with much experience. She started writing at seven years old entering contests and such, gaining more and more experience. Stowe underwent two tours where she promoted many progressive ideas (“Harriet Beecher Stowe”). Her conversational style of writing allowed her to reach audiences that an argumentative style would not. Stowe's work was one of the most popular and widely read (Evans, Curtis). Her writing encouraged people to address topics such as gender roles, slavery, and religious reform. Harriet Stowe's writing had a major impact on the
world. Stowe's most influential piece of writing was Uncle Tom’s Cabin which catapulted her career and gave her a name in history. Uncle Tom's Cabin allowed her to write full time. It also provided financial stability (“Harriet Beecher Stowe Biography”). She wrote this book to express the heartbreak of slavery. Stowe felt slavery went against her Christian beliefs so she wrote how she felt about it. This book was based on anti-slavery. It was more specifically based on the suffrage with slavery between families and children. The idea of the book was to get the message across about slavery so that readers could relate to their sufferings (Gatta, John). Uncle Tom's Cabin is set in Kentucky with Tom, his 3 young children, and Eliza. Religiously strong Tom and his son son were sold to pay of the debt for their master’s family. While Eliza runs away unaware of her son Harry’s danger, Tom choses to stay for the protection of his family. In the end Tom and Eliza escape but at the cost of Tom’s death. His final master has him whipped to death for denying his faith (“Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Lifestyle”). It forever changed how Americans viewed slavery. Alongside Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Stowe also wrote Key to Uncle Tom’s Cabin. It provided case histories of Uncle Tom's Cabin.