Uncle Tom's Cabin

Harriet Beecher Stowe's best known novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, first published serially in a weekly newspaper (The National Era), from June 5, 1851- April 1, 1852, was a runaway best-seller in the 19th century, selling over 300,000 copies in the US and 1.5 million in Great Britain in its first year itself. It has since been translated into over 60 languages. The novel profoundly changed America's views on slavery. When he met Harriet Beecher Stowe, President Abraham Lincoln is said to have commented, "So you're the little lady whose book started the Civil War."