1 00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:03,040 Speaker 1: Okay. We have a way of processing stuff from the 2 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:07,560 Speaker 1: past that sometimes completely changes our outlook on it. It 3 00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:11,080 Speaker 1: happens when authors take on a controversial topic and then 4 00:00:11,400 --> 00:00:14,760 Speaker 1: years later folks think the story is outdated or even 5 00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:19,280 Speaker 1: just playing wrong. Mid nineteenth century author Harriet Beecher Stowe 6 00:00:19,520 --> 00:00:23,160 Speaker 1: was dead set against slavery, and she wrote Uncle Tom's 7 00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:28,040 Speaker 1: Cabin as a way to humanize enslaved people. Abolitionists loved 8 00:00:28,040 --> 00:00:30,240 Speaker 1: the book. Folks in the South who wanted to hang 9 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:34,400 Speaker 1: onto slavery hated it. I'm Patty Steele, So what was 10 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:39,120 Speaker 1: the later controversy about her book? And also really weird 11 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:42,320 Speaker 1: thing happened to Harriet late in life. That's next on 12 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:50,360 Speaker 1: the backstory. We're back with the backstory. Uncle Tom's Cabin, 13 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:55,200 Speaker 1: written by fierce abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe, is considered a 14 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:59,800 Speaker 1: landmark of protest literature. Federal government put the Fugitive Slave 15 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:03,320 Speaker 1: Life Law in place in eighteen fifty that allowed slave 16 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:07,240 Speaker 1: owners and bounty hunters to head north to chase down 17 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:12,319 Speaker 1: and basically kidnap escaped enslaved people that they felt they owned, 18 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:16,399 Speaker 1: even though slavery wasn't allowed in the North. That infuriated 19 00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:20,800 Speaker 1: abolitionists like Harriet beecher Stowe, and she started writing. She 20 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:24,000 Speaker 1: wanted to show the humanity of enslaved people, and she 21 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:29,160 Speaker 1: was incredibly successful. Uncle Tom's Cabin was the best selling novel, and, 22 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:32,920 Speaker 1: after the Bible, the second best selling book of the 23 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:37,160 Speaker 1: entire nineteenth century. It was first released in eighteen fifty 24 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:41,600 Speaker 1: one as a forty episode series in an abolitionist newspaper. 25 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:44,600 Speaker 1: When it was published as a two volume book in 26 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:48,760 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty two, even critics admitted it help set a 27 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:52,520 Speaker 1: fire under the abolitionist cause, helping lead to the Civil 28 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:56,320 Speaker 1: War just nine years later. By eighteen fifty seven, it 29 00:01:56,400 --> 00:02:00,920 Speaker 1: had sold in amazing two million copies. Its son told 30 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:04,920 Speaker 1: a legendary story claiming the book was so powerful that 31 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:07,360 Speaker 1: when Abraham Lincoln met her at the start of the 32 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:11,080 Speaker 1: Civil War, he said, so, this is the little lady 33 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:15,040 Speaker 1: who started this great war. Yeah, men spoke that way 34 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:19,680 Speaker 1: back then. Union general and politician James Weaver said he 35 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:24,000 Speaker 1: got active in the abolitionist movement after reading Uncle Tom's Cabin, 36 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:28,160 Speaker 1: and he wasn't alone. Even the great nineteenth century civil 37 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:32,559 Speaker 1: rights leader Frederick Douglas heavily promoted the book in his newspaper. 38 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:36,160 Speaker 1: He said he was convinced of its social use and 39 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:41,240 Speaker 1: also of Stowe's humanitarianism, but he also published criticism of 40 00:02:41,280 --> 00:02:46,320 Speaker 1: the novel. More radical abolitionists criticized her story, saying it's 41 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:50,280 Speaker 1: stereotyped black people and was too sentimental not tough enough. 42 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:53,639 Speaker 1: But at the end of the day, the book's stories 43 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:56,920 Speaker 1: of the cruelty of slavery horrified enough people in the 44 00:02:56,960 --> 00:03:00,799 Speaker 1: North to push them toward abolition. On the other side, 45 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:04,360 Speaker 1: white people in the South were furious when it was published. 46 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:07,960 Speaker 1: Harriet was accused of slander. Some tried to censor the 47 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:10,720 Speaker 1: book and even chased booksellers out of a number of 48 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:13,600 Speaker 1: southern towns when they tried to sell it there Whereas 49 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:17,200 Speaker 1: yet she got death threats and even a package sent 50 00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:21,560 Speaker 1: to her that contained a slave's severed ear. Well like 51 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:24,840 Speaker 1: it or not, the book was a total sensation. People 52 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:27,920 Speaker 1: in the South wrote dozens of answer books, and in 53 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:31,840 Speaker 1: the North, books with the same storyline were written. Uncle 54 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:35,720 Speaker 1: Tom's Cabin was turned into a play, Folks made products 55 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:39,320 Speaker 1: to sell based on the story, and advertising using Uncle 56 00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:43,800 Speaker 1: Tom themes, as well as merchandising kicked into gear. All 57 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:47,000 Speaker 1: this in the mid eighteen fifties. It was all about 58 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:50,120 Speaker 1: seizing on the most passionate topic of the day and 59 00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:53,480 Speaker 1: making a buck off of it. Sound familiar, So what 60 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:57,360 Speaker 1: happened to Harriet well again. By eighteen fifty seven, two 61 00:03:57,480 --> 00:04:00,920 Speaker 1: million copies of Uncle Tom's Cabin had sold a lot 62 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:04,400 Speaker 1: of them in Europe. There weren't copyright laws over there, 63 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:08,040 Speaker 1: so she got none of the European royalties. However, she 64 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:12,040 Speaker 1: made a bundle by touring around Europe giving public lectures 65 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:14,720 Speaker 1: about the book and the fight against slavery in the 66 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:19,960 Speaker 1: US after the Civil War, Harriet bought a house in Jacksonville, Florida, 67 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:22,560 Speaker 1: as a bit of an escape and as a place 68 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:25,680 Speaker 1: to write, and she had taken up women's liberation as 69 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:29,680 Speaker 1: a cause. She grew oranges there and she promoted Florida's 70 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:32,880 Speaker 1: beauty to her northern fans, but she still had her 71 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:36,800 Speaker 1: home in Hartford, Connecticut. When she was about seventy five 72 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:39,760 Speaker 1: years old, things started to fall apart a little bit, 73 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:44,480 Speaker 1: and eventually a really unusual thing happened to Harriet. Her 74 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:48,200 Speaker 1: husband had just died and her health started to deteriorate. 75 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:52,599 Speaker 1: It's now thought that she was developing Alzheimer's. Mark Twain 76 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:57,320 Speaker 1: a neighbor in Hartford, Connecticut, wrote about Harriet in his autobiography. 77 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:01,440 Speaker 1: He said her mind had decayed. She was a pathetic figure. 78 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:04,520 Speaker 1: She wandered about all the day long in the care 79 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:08,480 Speaker 1: of a strong irishwoman in our neighborhood. The doors were 80 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:12,080 Speaker 1: always open in pleasant weather, and missus Stowe would walk 81 00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:15,400 Speaker 1: in at her own free will. She liked to surprise people, 82 00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:18,400 Speaker 1: so she would slip up behind a person who was 83 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:21,919 Speaker 1: deep in dreams and offer a war whoop that would 84 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:26,240 Speaker 1: make anybody jump out of their clothes. Meantime, she started 85 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:30,560 Speaker 1: writing another book. Her family was amazed she was writing 86 00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:35,480 Speaker 1: page after page, even revising her work. But then one 87 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:38,880 Speaker 1: of her friends read the manuscript, and it turns out 88 00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:43,919 Speaker 1: Harriet was writing Uncle Tom's Cabin all over again. She 89 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:47,320 Speaker 1: thought she was writing it for the first time, and amazingly, 90 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:51,279 Speaker 1: she made the same notes, the same revisions, and wrote 91 00:05:51,279 --> 00:05:55,200 Speaker 1: the same exact novel to the letter. Her family said 92 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:58,360 Speaker 1: she worked on it till she was exhausted. She told 93 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:01,159 Speaker 1: them it would be an exciting, brand new story of 94 00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:06,200 Speaker 1: the utmost importance. Harriet Beecher Stowe died in eighteen ninety 95 00:06:06,240 --> 00:06:09,320 Speaker 1: six at the age of eighty five. She never knew 96 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:13,200 Speaker 1: she had already written the exact same book over forty 97 00:06:13,279 --> 00:06:22,080 Speaker 1: years earlier. Hope you like the Backstory with Patty Steele. 98 00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:25,000 Speaker 1: I would love it if you would subscribe or follow 99 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:29,200 Speaker 1: for free to get new episodes delivered automatically, and also 100 00:06:29,279 --> 00:06:31,239 Speaker 1: feel free to DM me if you have a story 101 00:06:31,279 --> 00:06:34,279 Speaker 1: you'd like me to cover. On Facebook, It's Patty Steele 102 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:40,200 Speaker 1: and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. The 103 00:06:40,279 --> 00:06:45,159 Speaker 1: Backstories a production of iHeartMedia, Premier Networks, the Elvis Durand Group, 104 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:49,000 Speaker 1: and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. Our 105 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:53,160 Speaker 1: writer Jake Kushner. We have new episodes every Tuesday and Friday. 106 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:55,760 Speaker 1: Feel free to reach out to me with comments and 107 00:06:55,839 --> 00:06:59,760 Speaker 1: even story suggestions on Instagram at Real Patty Steele and 108 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:02,839 Speaker 1: on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening to the 109 00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:06,559 Speaker 1: Backstory with Patty Steele. The pieces of history you didn't 110 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:07,800 Speaker 1: know you needed to know.