As a steadfast voice in the U.S. abolitionist movement, Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811–1896) wrote the 1852 novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a story that stirred compassion and helped awaken a nation’s conscience.

“Let us resolve: First to attain the grace of silence. Second, to deem all fault-finding that does no good a sin. Third, to practice the grace and virtue of praise,” wrote Stowe, a devoted teacher and mother of nine.

Born in Litchfield, Connecticut, she was inspired by the passionate sermons of her father, an evangelical Calvinist minister. Uncle Tom’s Cabin sold rapidly and carried Stowe’s moral clarity into parlors across America.

The novel told of Simon Legree, a cruel slaveholder who whipped Tom to death. It became a best-seller and convinced many that slavery must end. Stowe also aided the Underground Railroad, helping enslaved people escape to freedom.

“Common sense is the knack of seeing things as they are, and doing things as they ought to be done,” she said. During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln reportedly greeted her with a wry smile: “So you are the little woman who wrote the book that made this big war.”

“The truth,” Stowe said, “is the kindest thing we can give folks in the end.” Her courage reminds us to keep faith in our heart always.