During Millard Fillmore's presidency, the country was becoming more and more divided over the issue of slavery. He reluctantly signed the Fugitive Slave Act, a part of the Compromise of 1850, making it a federal crime to assist or harbor an escaped slave. He believed the measure would placate the South and preserve the Union, but knew it would have a damaging impact on his own political career.
Harriet Beecher Stowe lived in Cincinnati for eighteen years (1832-1850) during which time this border town in a border state became an abolitionist stronghold. The passage of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850 was among the causes that compelled Harriet Beecher Stowe to write Uncle Tom's Cabin. The book was a best seller and had the capability to give its readers insight into the plight of the slaves in the South, and the effects of the government's policies.
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1803
The Louisiana Purchase
1850
