Uncle Tom's Cabin, Bestseller (1852)
This Day in Esoteric Political History
Jody Avirgan & Radiotopia
4.6 • 982 Ratings
🗓️ 21 March 2023
⏱️ 15 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It’s March 20th. This day in 1852, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” is the best-selling book in the country, capturing a growing anti-slavery sentiment, as well as tremendous backlash.
Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel took off so quickly — and how even at the time it was viewed as well-intentioned but potentially misguided in its portrayal of the slave narrative.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to this day in esoteric political history from radiotopia. |
| 0:07.0 | My name is Jody Abergen. |
| 0:10.0 | This day, March 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe's anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, comes out and is an immediate hit. |
| 0:20.0 | 3,000 copies sell on that first day. |
| 0:22.0 | It soon sells out its complete first run. |
| 0:25.0 | Uncle Tom's cabin has, basically, since that moment, kind of been in the American canon. |
| 0:30.0 | Many of us have read it in high school or college. But we want to focus a little bit on that |
| 0:35.1 | initial moment of release because while it was a big hit, as you can imagine, it was also very |
| 0:40.1 | contentious. Some booksellers were attacked for carrying the book. There was a |
| 0:44.2 | whole slew of counterbooks that were written in its wake. So here to discuss what |
| 0:49.0 | came to be known as America's most cussed and discussed novel are as always |
| 0:54.4 | Nicole Hammer of Vanderbilt and Kelly Carter Jackson of Wellesley. |
| 0:58.1 | Hello there. |
| 0:59.1 | Hello Jody. |
| 1:00.1 | Hey there. |
| 1:01.1 | I just I love a good play on. |
| 1:02.1 | I know. I need more rhyming. I know |
| 1:06.3 | Cust and disgust. But let's talk about book sales. 3,000 copies and one day |
| 1:11.3 | really big for that time I think probably still very big. |
| 1:14.0 | Yes, that I was going to say even today, |
| 1:16.8 | that's not nothing. |
| 1:18.0 | So why is it? |
... |
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