A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin [Paperback]

Harriet Beecher Stowe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 4, 2005

When proslavery critics of Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin (1851) charged that she did not describe slavery accurately, she published this fact-filled 1853 book demonstrating that her novel was true to life. This is a facsimile of an 1853 edition with the small text enlarged to make it more easily read. It is an excellent source of information about mid-nineteenth century American slavery.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) published her first book, The Mayflower, in 1843. In 1852 she published her bestselling classic, Uncle Toma (TM)s Cabin, the first novel to criticize the institution of slavery. She lectured and wrote for twenty-five years.

Harriet Beecher, born in Litchfield, CT in 1811, married Lane Theological Seminary professor and ardent critic of slavery Calvin Stowe in 1836. The Stowes supported the Underground Railroad, housing several runaway slaves in their home. Author of numerous fiction and non-fiction works, she is best known for "Uncle Tom's Cabin," published in 1852.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 268 pages
• Publisher: Inkling Books (January 4, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1587420384
• ISBN-13: 978-1587420382
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,399,027 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Documentation of an Amazing Story, September 18, 2006

By 

John Carpenter "inkslinger003" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin (Paperback)

Upon publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin, HB Stowe was attacked immediately by pro-slavery writers. Her work was dismissed as fiction, an abolitionist's distorted view, and totally representing slavery in the South. Mrs. Stowe responded by collecting and expanding her factual documentation. She started to write a 25-page pamphlet, to be added as an appendix to the next edition of Cabin. But the work consumed her, as she confronted the stories of many escaped slaves, newspaper articles, court testimony, and even the text of state laws. The defense project grew to over 500 pages, and is a major work in its own right.

Frederick Douglas called it a major contribution to the war against slaveholders: "...for the 'Key' not only proves the correctness of every essential part of Uncle Tom's Cabin, but proves more and worse things against themurderous system than are alleged in that great book."

Historians and history teachers must have this book, as a reference and as an experience. Anyone who strives to understand the burning issues that ignited the War between the States needs this book. I recommend it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for research of slavery and 1800s America, July 19, 2011

By 

Jessica McCann (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin; Presenting the Original Facts and Documents Upon Which the Story Is Founded. Together With Corroborative Statements Verifying the Truth of the Work (Paperback)

When Harriet Beecher Stowe published "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in 1852, many people questioned whether the novel accurately and truthfully described the horrors and depravity of slavery. In response, she published "A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin," a nonfiction book "presenting the original facts and documents" upon which her novel was based -- letters, newspaper articles, classified ads and other documents.

I'm so grateful for Stowe's thoroughness, because this book proved invaluable in my own research for my historical novel "All Different Kinds of Free." I learned about the book during a trip visiting in-laws. Our cousin Donna took us to the Living History Farms in Urbandale, Iowa, at a point early in my book research. While perusing the wares of Schafer Drug Store (in the 1875 Town of Walnut Hill), I was beyond thrilled to discover the book on the shelf.

If you're researching slavery or the 1800s, buying a copy of this book is worth the investment (whether you buy it online or make the trip to Iowa's Living History Farms, which I also recommend! [...])

8 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Review, July 2, 2001

By 

"rkfj" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin (Paperback)

My reason for reading this book was to understand why some Blacks today are called 'Uncle Toms'. Once I began the book, I realized that I would have to stop looking at the book frrom the perspective of a Black woman in the year 2001. That the author was not a slave or a Black is very obvious, and her own misconceptions about Blacks are very disturbing. But she is, after all, writing from her the only point of view she knew. I found the book to be very engrossing, easy to read and also interesting enough to keep me from flipping to the end.