The Power of the Pen

The Power of the Pen

The great winds of change have always swayed American history, often with the help of society's sharpest critics: writers. The latter half of the 19th century was, even by American standards, a hurricane of cultural changes. The Civil War brewed and boiled, feminism began its first sweep of the country, and the Second Industrial Revolution sprang up over the nation. These changes were accompanied by conflicts and adjustments as the United States struggled to accommodate the new ideas and opinions. The words of American authors often served as amplifiers of public opinion, laying out reasons and arguments. On other occasions, they sought to reform public opinion, going against the tide with spectacular results. Harriet Beecher Stowe's monumental Uncle Tom's Cabin dealt directly with slavery and its effects, even going so far as to commentate on the issues of gender and class. Mark Twain's canonical The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was also an example of this rebellious spirit. Twain addressed unflinchingly the issues of slavery and racism in a divided union. Joseph Cooper and Walt Whitman also used their writings to reach an audience concerning the issues of racism and class. Ultimately, their writings came full circle. Slavery was abolished, and racism began to fade away. Suffrage was eventually earned, and feminism would twice more sweep the nation. Social classes saw their respective declines and rises, redrawing the lines of American culture. American literature has and will continue to make a mark on history. The powerful words penned by the world's greatest voices have served as pivotal turning points in history. Two books in particular – Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin and Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – were both groundbreaking in their implications. Furthermore, the work of many authors like James Cooper

and Walt Whitman introduced and brought about ideas in the arenas of race, gender, and class before the rest of society had time to take a breath and catch up.

It is said that Abraham Lincoln, upon meeting Harriet Beecher Stowe, called Uncle Tom's Cabin the book that started the Civil War. This is not much of an exaggeration, as Stowe wrote the novel to change what she saw (Hada 1). Uncle Tom's Cabin is finely sharpened to pierce society's armor when it comes to the ignitable issue of slavery. One of Stowe's most stinging dissections is that of the "Kentucky Issue"; at the time, the state was nearly literally divided over the issue, as it was both a center point for a number of religious denominations that felt called to denounced slavery, as well as a cotton and tobacco state that depended on slave labor for its economic health (Hada 5-6). Abraham Lincoln and his wife were both from Kentucky; the state was split haplessly in two by the slavery conflict, a fact