After winning prizes for her essays as a student at Litchfield Academy, she dreamed of becoming a famous writer.
For the most part, Hatty had a happy childhood surrounded by her large family. She was particularly close to her younger brother, Henry Ward Beecher (1813–1887), who would eventually become a famous preacher like their father. Another important influence was her oldest sister, Catherine Beecher, who helped raise her after their mother died. Catherine held progressive views about the role of women that were unusual for that time. Believing that women should have the same educational opportunities as men, she opened a school for girls in Hartford, Connecticut. Hatty attended the school for a time and also taught there during her teen years.
Comes Into Contact with Slavery
Growing up in the Northern United States in the early 1800s, Stowe had little direct contact with black people. But she heard stories about the way black people were treated in the Southern part of the country under the institution of slavery. Black people were taken from Africa and brought to North America to serve as slaves for white people beginning in the 1600s. The basic belief behind slavery was that black people were inferior to whites.
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