Harriet Beecher Stowe Essay Example for Free

Harriet Beecher Stowe Essay Born â€Å"June 14, 1811†, â€Å"Harriet Beecher Stowe†, was born to â€Å"Roxana and Lyman Beecher† (Lakewood Public Library n. p. ). This seventh sibling has a famous brother, â€Å"Henry Ward Beecher†, who is a leader of the â€Å"abolitionist movement† (Lakewood Public Library n. p. ). She also has a sister, â€Å"Catherine Beecher† who fought for the women to be educated; she played a large role in the women’s progress in terms of education (Lakewood Public Library n. p. ). In addition to that, she was married to an equally brilliant individual and popular named, â€Å"Calvin Stowe† at the age of twenty five (Lakewood Public Library n. p. ). She had seven children with this co-teacher of hers (Lakewood Public Library n. p. ). She attended the â€Å"Hartford Female Academy† to complete her education (Lakewood Public Library n. p. ). This is the same school that her sister, â€Å"Catherine Beecher† instituted when â€Å"Harriet Beecher Stowe† was only twelve years old (Lakewood Public Library n. p. ). In school, she was described as â€Å"absent-minded, moody, and weird†, however, she was also known as extremely intelligent and that she was exceedingly good in writing (Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1811 1896 n. p. ). When â€Å"Harriet Beecher Stowe† turned twenty one, she went to teach in â€Å"Cincinnati† at the â€Å"Western Female Institute†, another learning institution that her sister established (Lakewood Public Library n. p. ). Together with her sister, Catherine, she wrote and published â€Å"Geography for Children† (Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1811 1896 n. p. ). This same year, she has also been awarded with for an article she wrote and published in the â€Å"Western Monthly Magazine† entitled, â€Å"New England Sketch† (Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1811 1896 n. p. ). At the age of thirty nine, she had already accomplished a book, entitled, â€Å"Uncle Tom’s Cabin† (Lakewood Public Library n. p. ). She turned extremely famous in 1851, just a year after she has written the aforementioned book (Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1811 1896 n. p. ). In addition to the aforementioned, what made her more famous is the fact that she delivered speeches with regards to oppression/slavery that occurs in the United States, as well as, in the United Kingdom (Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1811 1896 n. p. ). When some of her critics declared that the contents of â€Å"Uncle Tom’s Cabin† was not genuine, she rose up to the challenge and wrote another book entitled, â€Å"Dred† five years after the publication of â€Å"Uncle Tom’s Cabin† (Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1811 1896 n. p. ). While she was busy delivering speeches about slavery, she also had her writings published in a journal known as â€Å"The National Era† that even the president, â€Å"Abraham Lincoln† acknowledged her brilliance and fame by saying, â€Å"So you are the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war† (Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1811 1896 n. p. ). Back then, she was not only the â€Å"most famous† writer, she was also known to be the â€Å"highest paid† one (Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1811 1896 n. p. ). She died in July 1, 1896 in Hartford, CT (Lakewood Public Library n. p. ). However, she left with so many contributions to the world of literature including the following works: â€Å"1) The Mayflower: or, Sketches of Scenes and Characters Among the Descendants of the Pilgrims; 2) Uncle Tom’s Cabin; 3) The Key to Uncle Tom’s Cabin; 4) Sunny Memoirs of Foreign Lands; 5) Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp; 6) the Minister’s Wooing; 7) The Pearl of Orr’s Island; 8) Agnes of Sorrento; 9) House and Home Papers; 10) Little Foxes; 11) Religious Poems; 12) the Chimney Corner; 12) Men of our Times; 13) Old Town Folks; 14) The True Story of Lord Byron’s Life; 15) Lady Byron Vindicated; 16) Little Pussy Willow; 17) Pink and White Tyranny: A Society Novel; 18) Old Town Fireside Stories; 19) My Wife and I: or, Harry Henderson’s History; 20) Sam Lawson’s Oldtown Fireside Stories; 21) Woman in Sacred History; 22) Palmetto Leaves; 23) We and Our Neighbors; 24) Betty’s Bright Idea; 25) Captain Kidd’s Money and Other Stories; 26) Footsteps of the Master; 27) Bible Heroines; 28) Poqanuc People; 29) A Dog’s Mission; 30) The Poor Life; 31) the Writings; and 32) Regional Sketches† (Hedrick 3 398). Furthermore, she left with a good name (Fritz 5 – 144). The author in question played a large role as a â€Å"social reformer, philanthropist, and author†; she fought for the â€Å"African Americans† and everyone else who were victims of oppression and slavery (Fritz 5 – 144). Upon meeting slaves who were able to escape, she immediately wrote articles and actually published them; through these many people â€Å"will wake up† in the years to come (Fritz 5 – 144). If she had not started upholding such rights of the slaves and people who were oppressed, it would not have been pushed by others and slavery would still have been in its worse today (Fritz 5 – 144). During her time, the â€Å"Fugitive Slave Act† has been enacted (Fritz 5 – 144). This law made it unlawful for other individuals to help out slaves who escaped (Fritz 5 – 144). What â€Å"Harriet Beecher Stowe† did was to send a letter to a colleague and â€Å"abolitionist leader† named â€Å"Frederick Douglass† (Fritz 5 – 144). Here, she sought for an advice with regards to her articles on oppression/slavery (Fritz 5 – 144). Fortunately during this time she also had the opportunity to make her voice heard and so what she did was to discuss her writings especially with regards to slavery to help other individuals become well informed and to inspire them to help her out with her advocacies/fight (Fritz 5 – 144). On a final note, â€Å"Harriet Beecher Stowe† is a famous author who played a large role in addressing the problem on slavery in the United States and the United Kingdom through her works and delivered speeches (Fritz 5 – 144). Works Cited Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1811 – 1896. n. d. n. a. 18 November 2008. http://americancivilwar. com/women/hbs. html Fritz, Jean. Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Beecher Preachers (Unforgettable Americans). NY: Putnam Juvenile, 1998. Hedrick, Joan. Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Life. NY: Oxford University Press, 1995. Lakewood Public Library. Harriet Beecher Stowe. n. d. n. a. 18 November 2008. http://www. lkwdpl. org/wihohio/stow-har. htm