Among the most "banned" books in the United States, Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly is a novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe which treats slavery as a central theme. Stowe was a Connecticut-born teacher at the Hartford Female Academy and an active abolitionist. The novel is believed to have had a profound effect on the North's view of slavery. In fact, when he met Harriet Beecher Stowe, President Lincoln is said to have commented, "So you're the little lady whose book started the Civil War."

　　First published on March 20, 1852, Uncle Tom's Cabin was the best-selling novel of the 19th century and the second best-selling book of that century, following the Bible. In the first year after it was published, 300,000 copies of the book were sold in the United States; one million copies in Great Britain. In 1855, three years after it was published, it was called "the most popular novel of our day." The story focuses on the tale of Uncle Tom, a long-suffering black slave, the central character around whose life the other characters - both fellow slaves and slave owners - revolve. The novel depicts the harsh reality of slavery while also showing that Christian love and faith can overcome even something as evil as enslavement of fellow human beings.