The newly enacted Federal Fugitive Slave Law, passed as part of the Compromise of 1850, required the citizens of the free states to cooperate with Southern bounty hunters and local law enforcement officials to return runaway slaves to their Southern masters. This action infuriated Isabella Jones Beecher, Harriet Beecher Stowe's sister-in-law, so much that she wrote to Harriet requesting that she use her skills to write a protest about this national outrage. Writing from Boston, Isabella wrote to Harriet, "If I could use a pen as you can, I would write something that would make this whole nation feel what an accursed thing slavery is." She ultimately responded by writing "Uncle Tom's Cabin."

Harriet, like all of the Beechers, was strongly devoted to her Christian faith, the cause of anti-slavery, and serving her fellow man. This is very apparent throughout "Uncle Tom's Cabin." She claimed that she was only the humble instrument; and that the work was written by the Lord himself. This meant that she was able to downplay her role in the authorship, while also saying to the nation that they should pay attention because God was speaking through her.

This month's speaker, David Wilkerson, will look at "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and its impact on America in the 1850s. He will discuss the events that lead Stowe to write this novel, how her Christian faith guided her, and how it impacted America.

David Wilkerson is a founding member of the Inland Empire Civil War Round Table and continues to deliver Civil War-related presentations on a regular basis. He received his B.A. and M.A. in History from the University California, Riverside and is an adjunct instructor at Brandman (formerly Chapman) University's Moreno Valley campus, lecturing about various elements of American history and Western Civilization.

Come join us as we learn about the development of this novel which helped hasten the Civil War.

Janet Whaley
Program Chair

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