The publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin written by Harriet Beecher Stowe contributed to the start of the civil war by drawing attention to the evils of slavery. Before its publication, many whites in the North were unaware of the day-to-day moral ills of slavery, and became incensed that this institution was allowed to take place in the South. This "charged up" many abolitionists in the North who wanted to fight to end slavery.
