Stowe, Harriet Elizabeth Beecher (1811–1896)

A poster for Harriet Beecher Stowe's antislavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1851–52). The book was hugely popular and is thought to have had a major influence on swaying public opinion against slavery. This poster appeared in 1860 a year before the American Civil War began.

An illustration of Tom rescuing Eva, taken from the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, by Harriet Beecher. Published between 1851 and 1852, Uncle Tom's Cabin was written in support of Abolitionism, the movement against slavery. The novel had a profound impact on public opinion against slavery, and at the time sold more copies than any other book, apart from the Bible.

US writer, abolitionist, and suffragist. She is best known for her antislavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, first published serially in 1851–52, which is considered one of the most important books in US literature. Her Christian and abolitionist ideals, combined with the death of her infant son in 1849, provided the context and inspiration for the novel, which when published in book form was an immediate success.

Born in Litchfield, Connecticut, Stowe was the daughter of Congregationalist minister Lyman Beecher, and in 1836 married Calvin Ellis Stowe, a professor of theology. Her first book, The Mayflower, was published in 1843. She was living in Brunswick, Maine, a mother of six, when she wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin. It was radical in its time and did much to spread antislavery sentiment, but in the 20th century was criticized for sentimentality and racism.

In 1853 Stowe published A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin, in which she defended the historical accuracy of the novel. Her other well known works include Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp (1856), another attack on slavery, and The Minister's Wooing (1859), a romantic novel.