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Jump Back in Time Western Expansion & Reform (1829-1859)
 
Title page of Susan B. Anthony's copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin
Susan B. Anthony's copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin

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Uncle Tom's Cabin Appeared in Serial Form
June 5, 1851

Stowe decided to write a fictional story about slavery and sent it to the editor of an anti-slavery weekly. He paid her $300 for the right to publish her story, and on June 5, 1851, the first chapter appeared in print. Over the next 10 months, Uncle Tom's Cabin, or Life Among the Lowly, was published in 40 installments. People started to discuss Uncle Tom's Cabin and pass around the story. In 1852, a Boston publisher issued Uncle Tom's Cabin as a book. It became an instant bestseller. Three hundred thousand copies were sold the first year, and a half-million copies by 1857. Before long it seemed that everyone had read it, including the president of the United States!
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