As the best-selling novel of the nineteenth century, Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a powerful work of literature that fueled the abolitionist debate in the United States and shifted emotions leading up to the American Civil War.
Through the characters drawn by Stowe in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, both the injustices of slavery and the power of Christian love to overcome destructive circumstances are presented unforgettably. This powerful message changed the course of social thought on liberty and humanity. Selling more than one million copies in the United States and England in its first year, Uncle Tom’s Cabin was second only to the Bible in its reach. Great historical significance and a potent moral message earn this novel a place on the required-reading list of any literary enthusiast.
