Harriet elizabeth beecher stowe biography
•
Harriet Beecher Stowe
(1811-1896)
Who Was Harriet Beecher Stowe?
Harriet Beecher was an author and the matriarch of a family committed to social justice. Stowe achieved national fame for her anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which fanned the flames of sectionalism before the Civil War. Stowe died in Hartford, Connecticut, on July 1, 1896.
Early Life
Harriet Elizabeth Beecher was born on June 14, 1811, in Litchfield, Connecticut. She was one of 13 children born to religious leader Lyman Beecher and his wife, Roxanna Foote Beecher, who died when Harriet was a child. Harriet’s seven brothers grew up to be ministers, including the famous leader Henry Ward Beecher. Her sister Catharine Beecher was an author and a teacher who helped to shape Harriet’s social views. Another sister, Isabella, became a leader of the cause of women’s rights.
Harriet enrolled in a school run by Catharine, following the traditional course of classical learning usually reserved for young men. At
•
Abolitionist author, Harriet Beecher Stowe rose to fame in 1851 with the publication of her best-selling book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which highlighted the evils of slavery, angered the slaveholding South, and inspired pro-slavery copy-cat works in defense of the institution of slavery.
Stowe was born on June 14, 1811 in Litchfield, Connecticut, the seventh child of famed Congregational minister Lyman Beecher and Roxana Foote Beecher. Her famous siblings include elder sister Catherine (11 years her senior), and Henry Ward Beecher, the famous preacher and reformer. Stowe’s mother died when she was fem years old and while her father remarried, her sister Catherine became the most pronounced influence on young Harriet’s life. At age eight, she began her education at the Litchfield kvinna Academy. Later, in 1824, she attended Catherine Beecher’s Hartford kvinnlig Seminary, which exposed ung women to many of the same courses available in men’s academies. Stowe’s proclivity for writing wa
•
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet Beecher Stowe was born on June 14, 1811, in Litchfield, Connecticut. Born to devout Calvinist parents, Harriet grew up in a deeply religious household with many family members involved in the church. At the age of five, Harriet’s mother passed away, and her older sister Catharine Beecher raised young Harriet. At thirteen years old, Harriet was enrolled in the Hartford Female Seminary, which was run by Catharine. Harriet received an academic education focusing on reading, writing, mathematics, linguistics, and the humanities, which was unusual for girls in her time due to her sister’s position as president of the institution. As a young adult, Harriet moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, with her father who was appointed President of Lane Theological Seminary. Upon her arrival to Cincinnati, she joined the Semi-Colon Club, an informal writer’s club. While living in Cincinnati, Harriet was exposed to a diverse range of people that came from across the country. Thi