JULIA WARD HOWE, AUTHOR OF THE "BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC," AND HARRIET BEECHER STOWE WHO WROTE "UNCLE TOM'S CABIN"
219. Julia Ward Howe. All the great wars in which our country has engaged have brought heavy burdens and sorrow to women. They could not march away to fight side by side with the men. Their duty was to cheer their loved ones as they went away to danger and perhaps to death.
Women in the Civil War
At the outbreak of the Civil War, from thousands and thousands of homes father, husband, son, or brother went away, in many instances never to return. Women were left behind, praying for their loved ones and working untiringly night and day to provide food and clothing and to keep up their homes.
Born 1819
But there were other women who could not serve their country in this way. Many had no one to send away to fight. Among these was Julia Ward Howe. She was born in New York in 1819, of wealthy and distinguished parents. She was carefully reared, but she knew little of the work that girls are usually taught to do. Practically everything was done for her by servants. However, Julia dearly loved to read and study, and very early she began to write poetry.
Marries Doctor Howe
Desires to be of service to the Union
In 1841 she married Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe, a noted teacher and reformer. While visiting in Washington in 1861 she saw women nursing the wounded soldiers brought in from the battle field of Bull Run. She was deeply stirred by the sights around her. What service could she do for her country? Her husband was too old to enter the army, her son too young. She knew that there were thousands making clothes for the soldiers in the field. But she could not sew for the soldiers or care for the wounded, for she had never been taught to work with her hands. She could only write poetry. Of what use was that now?
Writes "Battle Hymn of the Republic"
One day her minister suggested that she write words for the popular army tune, "John Brown's Body Lies A-mouldering in the Grave." She did so, and the poem was published in a magazine under the name of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."
It helps to bring victory
Soon the song was being sung through all the camps of the northern troops. The soldiers sang it on the march, in wild charges, or at night beside the camp fire. Everywhere its challenge roused the northern soldiers to a more determined fight for victory. In writing this poem Mrs. Howe had done a great service for the Union.
JULIA WARD HOWE
From a photograph by the Notman Photo. Co., Boston
Founds clubs for women
220. The Woman's Club. After the war Mrs. Howe wished to continue serving her country in some way, and she took up the cause of woman's rights. Women had had little or no chance to educate themselves and broaden their minds by discussing with each other subjects outside their homes. She thought woman's clubs would work to free women from the narrowness of mind that comes from thinking only of dress, hired help, and housekeeping. From then on, she devoted herself to establishing clubs for women. She traveled over the country and wrote and lectured on this subject. She urged that the members of these clubs should seek not only for self-improvement but for means of serving others; and through their efforts hospitals for women and children, lodging houses, and labor schools were established.
Mrs. Howe had found a means of serving her country even greater and more effective than the writing of her "Battle Hymn of the Republic."
Born, 1811
221. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Another woman who did great service for her country with her pen was Harriet Beecher Stowe. She was born in 1811. Her father was a Connecticut minister, and she was brought up in a deeply religious home. At school she was apt at writing and she dreamed of becoming a great author.
Marries Calvin E. Stowe
She married Calvin E. Stowe, a student of theology, and thereafter devoted herself to her home and her children. During the years just before the Civil War there was much discussion of the slavery question. Mrs. Stowe had traveled in the South and had seen how the negroes were kept in ignorance, and how cruelly they were sometimes treated. She was aroused by the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law and by some of the things that happened as a result of it. She resolved to use her talent for writing to help the slaves.
Writes "Uncle Tom's Cabin"
In 1851 she began the story, Uncle Tom's Cabin. It was first published in serial form in an abolition paper in Washington. It was later published in book form. From the first, the sale of the book was enormous. It was translated into many languages and was very popular abroad as well as at home.
HARRIET BEECHER STOWE
From a photograph by Sarony, New York
Mrs. Stowe became famous. It is said that the book converted more than two million people to the cause of freedom for slaves. It helped to unite the North and to give it strength to stand firm in the great conflict.
Mrs. Stowe continued writing in behalf of the slaves. She gave her son to the cause of freedom. He was wounded at Gettysburg and never regained his health. She aided in establishing schools for the negroes in the South, and worked among them earnestly until her death in 1896.