Most people don't realize that Uncle Tom's Cabin was written as an anti-slavery novel, and had that intended effect.

Soon after the publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin, its author, Harriet Beecher Stowe, was recognized as a leading antislavery spokesperson.

This was no more apparent than in 1863, when Abraham Lincoln greeted her at the White House with the words, "So this is the little lady who started this great big war."