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For an equally compelling read - and maybe even more so than Uncle Tom's Cabin - check out Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs. While Uncle Tom's Cabin is fiction, this is an autobiographical account of a slave woman who wrote in detail about the life of a slave and the "system" in which they were forced to live. Her own personal story is nothing short of heart-rending and amazing. It was published in 1861, before the official end of slavery in the United States, but unfortunately failed to garner a lot of attention because the start of the Civil War was the only thing on people's minds in that year. Uncle Tom's Cabin had the advantage of being published nine years earlier.

The influence and impact of Uncle Tom's Cabin cannot be denied. Still, it's a bit melodramatic and maudlin in some places. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is, for me, just as raw and compelling, and maybe even more so because it's a true story told from the perspective of an actual slave. Beecher Stowe, although an abolitionist, was neither black nor a slave, and so necessarily wrote from an outsider-looking-in perspective.

I read about this book and I wanted to love it. I expected to be enthralled with it. In the end, I could not get into it. Sadness.

Harriet Beecher Stowe was a northern abolitionist. It is not a stretch to say that her purpose in writing this book was to educate people about the plight of slaves, humanizing them to a world that considered them less than human. The South looked on the book as propaganda, but by banning it they guaranteed more people would read it. It’s popularity drove the outcry against slavery, making it a hot topic during the war and, eventually, the battle cry for the North.

I read and re-read this book every few years, such a strong message and the characters are just right.

Uncle Tom's Cabin..the work that gave a clear picture of slavery
in America. It was such a success, that the Civil War broke and
at last slavaery was abolished.

I have read the American civil wars history but I'm yet to read this book. I think the motive behind the war was discrimination and slavery of the black citizens.

I love Uncle Tom's Cabin for the sense of hope it gave to a very dark period of history. It gives us hope that even in the darkest of times, there will be people willing to stand up for what is right.

While I found this book extremely hard to read as a teen, I have reread it as an adult and truly appreciated the work. The language can be a bit difficult but the story is such a rare find these days. I realize that many adults feel this book has no place in a school or library, but I believe the lessons that can be taught from it are amazing and lessons that children these days could be taught to not make the mistakes that our ancestors made.