Harriet Beecher Stowe was the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, an influencing novel about the horrors of slavery, which was published in 1852. It boosted the North's sense of morality against slavery and was a substantial key to The Civil War. The book was based on powerful imagery and was extremely popular; it sold millions of copies in the first year and was translated into many languages. Harriet Beecher Stowe had first-handedly witnessed slavery, but she had seen it during a short visit to Kentucky and while she lived in Ohio (center of Underground Railroad activity). The novel especially focused on the spliting of families. It was also very popular in foreign countries, especially Britain and France.
Uncle Tom's Cabin was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe who briefly saw slavery during a visit to Kentucky and when she lived in Ohio. When Abraham Lincoln met Harriet Beecher Stowe he said "So you're the little women who wrote the book that made this great war." Lincoln's statement was true, the book had a large role in starting The Civil War. When the war finally erupted, the governments in London and Paris were considering assisting the South, but they were worried that thier people, who had "Tom-mania" wouldn't support them.
Uncle Tom's Cabin greatly increased the amount of sectionalism between the North and the South, which soon led to The Civil War. The book fueled the abolitionist cause in the North and aroused the South. The South felt as if the North were spreading lies about slavery and that people were believing it. This is why the many angry southerners wrote responses to the book. The North considered it as stating the true in regards to the slavery situation and the South said it was purely fake and unfair since Harriet Beecher Stowe had never been down South and therefore didn't know if it was really like that or not. This increased the sectionalistic tensions between the two parts of the nation (North and South) over the issue of slavery.
Uncle Toms Cabin not only helped start The Civil War, it helped the North win it too. The novel was devoured by millions of easily influenced youths in the 1850's; some of these youths later became the Unions soldiers in blue who volunteered to fight The Civil War through to its grim end. Their determination to wipe out the plaque of slavery was sustained by the memory of a beaten and dying Uncle Tom. The government of London and Paris forsaw the victory of the North, ending the black curse and considered enforcing the South because they bought lots of goods from America, which had been produced by slaves (such as cotton). The goverments soon found out that their own people were aroused with "Tom-mania" and wouldn't support them.
The novel aroused sectional differences between the North and South on the long debated issue of slavery. The North saw it as true and the South saw it as unfair lies. Uncle Toms Cabin prevented the British from joining the war on the Souths side, which was the Southern plan all along; the book made the people sympathize for the slaves and not fight to keep them enslaved. The book gave inspiration for the abolitionists to fight againsy slavery and also got others to strongly oppose slavery, then fight in The Civil War to end it. However, it also was something for the South to be upset about; many Southerners were outraged at the "lies" that people were believing about slavery, they also wrote some (not as popular) books on their view on slavery. This clash between the North and South expanded into The Civil War.