Sentimental literature in the 19th century America on the basis of Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Abstract

The objective of this research paper is to show how Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, as a sentimental novel is an example of a text that provided middle-class women a way to enter the public sphere in the 19th century United States. 19th century women had little power outside of the domestic sphere, which is why sentimental novel became one of the mediums through which they could spread their ideas and beliefs – in Stowe’s case, strong abolitionist beliefs against Fugitive Slave Law.