THE BOOK'S SIGNIFICANCE IN AMERICAN HISTORY

The book sold around 300,000 copies in the first 3 months of its release and eventually outsold the Bible. Its reach was massive and gained the attention of Abraham Lincoln. The book caused a lot of controversy in the South. Some states made it illegal to possess a copy of the book. Newspapers in the South depicted Harriet Beecher Stowe as an evil person, manipulating the minds of people through the book. However, in the North, this book was widely embraced and it became a tradition to assemble as a family and read this book. 

​

When Abraham Lincoln met her, he apparently greeted her by saying, "Is this the little woman who made this great war?", implying that the rifts caused between the North and the South by the book were one of the causes of the Civil War.