Volume 2, No. 28 June 14, 2002
How a novel began a war By Weihua Zhang Anyone who is interested in the American Civil War history must have heard of Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) and/or her famous novel "Uncle Tom’s Cabin." Legend has it that when President Lincoln received Stowe at the White House in 1862, he could not hide his admiration for this gentle yet brave soul, saying, "So this is the little lady who made this big war?" Did you know that it was on June 5, 1851, that "Uncle Tom’s Cabin or, Life among the Lowly" began to appear in serial form in the Washington National Era, an abolitionist weekly? It took 40 installments over the next 10 months to run the story. Though the weekly had a limited circulation, its audience increased as reader after reader passed their copy along. In March 1852, a Boston publisher decided to issue "Uncle Tom’s Cabin" as a book and it became an instant bestseller. Across the nation, people discussed the novel and hotly debated slavery, the most pressing sociopolitical issue dramatized in its narrative. Zhang is a professor of English as a second language.
Home | Accolades | What’s the Buzz | Art and About | The Reel Deal Book Marks | On the Safe Side | The Bee Line | Classifieds | Contact the Chronicle | Chronicle Archives