America in the 1850sUncle Tom’s Cabin |
How many people had their minds changed by Uncle Tom’s Cabin? |
There were no opinion polls in 1852, and anecdotal evidence is generally considered less than reliable, but it seems possible that half a million people in the Northern states had their minds altered by the book. Roughly 300,000 copies were sold that first year, and for every person who read the book, there were probably two others who heard it in oral form.