Harriet: The Life and World of Harriet Beecher Stowe

by Norma Johnston

A biography of the nineteenth-century author famous for the novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" which denounced slavery and intensified the disagreement between the North and South

Genres: Biography

242 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1994

About the author

Norma Johnston was born in Ridgewood, New Jersey, USA, the only child of Marjorie (Pierce), a teacher and Charles Eugene Chambers Johnston, an engineer. She read voraciously--especially mysteries, to which her family was addicted. She was ducated at Ramsey public schools and Montclair State College, later studied acting at the American Theatre Wing and elsewhere, and received a teaching certificate from Montclair College. She was actress, director, designer, stylist, retailer, teacher, counselor, entrepreneur, preacher, editor, ... and in between all her other careers she was the author of more than 70 novels, mainly gothic romances for teens. She become a a full-time writer in 1973.

Johnston also wrote under the pseudonyms of Nicole St. John, Pamela Dryden, Lavinia Harris, Kate Chambers, Catherine E. Chambers, Elizabeth Bolton, and Adrian Robert.

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harriet: the Life and World of Harriet Beecher Stowe
By Norma Johnston
Copyright 1994
Biography
242 pages

H B Stowe wrote many fiction and non-fiction books and had articles published in magazines of her time.

2 plots/themes/journeys in Uncle Tom’s Cabin
The Tragic Journey of the Old Man
Tom went from life on one of the “best” plantations with a friendly master through the breakup of his family, the dreadful slave auction, descent into the worst conditions of slavery, and ultimately death in which, Tom, like Christ on the cross and true to his Christian beliefs, actually prayed for and forgave his murders.
The Journey of a Loving Slave Family
The tiny, light slave woman on the thin ice with her child flees to Canada via the Underground Railway. The couple could not travel together.
The book showed the various ways slaves achieved or failed to achieve their freedom, the various ways they were treated by whites from deliberate cruelty to ignorant, kindly condescension showing that often the worst prejudice was unconsciouls and insidious [as it still is today!!!].
Three strands: 1) story of Tom, the suffering servant 2) the story of the wronged slave wife and mother and 3) the story of .the wife’s daring and heroic husband (N\named Eliza and George Harris)
The book was well received but some did not believe it was based in fact so HBS wrote a follow up book that was well researched and which proved that everything that happened really did happen.


Fugitive Slave Act Parallel to ICE Activity in Trump Presidency!
Page 129

Henry Clay [Henry Clay Sr. was an American attorney and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives, served as seventh speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and served as the ninth U.S. secretary of state] in Wash. DC would admit CA to the Union as a free state , organize NM and UT territories with no specifications as to slavery, and, as evidence of good faith to the South , enact a tough new law to prevent slaves from becoming free just by crossing the border into free territory. There would be punishment for those who tried it. They must be returned to their owners and bounty hunters would be paid to make the return happen. There would be harsh punishment for any whites who aided and abetted such escapes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugitiv...

Page 171
“At the Anti-Slavery Anniversary Meeting [in England and Calvin attended while Harriet was at a visit with Duchesss of Sutherland] , where 4,000 people applauded Harriet so fiercely that the noise was like a blow, where speech following speech took speaking against slavery as a license to speak against America, Calvin’s patience broke. Harriet was with the Duchess of Sutherland in a private gallery, and could not exert wifely control. In blunt New England speech, Calvin informed his hearers that England was the primary (80 %) customer for American cotton. England liked the financial advantage of buying slave-grown cotton. If England demanded free growth cotton--and was willing to pay the price--American slavery would have ended years ago. It was England that kept the ‘peculiar institution’ going.”
It Was Worse in Senate in Yesteryear Sometimes than What It Is Today!
Pages 177-178
“In Wash. DC, May 19-20, 1856, pro-abolition Senator Charles Sumner [Massachusetts} took the floor for a long,impassioned speech on “The Crime Against Kansas.” On May 26, after Senate had just adjourned for the day, young Representative Preston Brooks of SC came up behind Sumner, seated at his desk, and beat him severely on the head with a cane.
Blood streamed everywhere. Brooks was brought up on charges in the House for attempted murder and was aquitted, resigned his House seat and was promptly re-elected. Indignation meetings were held throughout the North [to no avai]}.”

[Christine Turner]

A biography of the nineteenth-century author famous for the novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" which denounced slavery and intensified the disagreement between the North and South.