What was the most controversial book in American history?

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. In my opinion this book stands all alone in its controversy from the time it was written in 1852 untl this day. Stowe wrote the book to destroy the institution of slavery. Uncle Tom's heroism burned through the Union like wildfire, cementing anti-slavery opinions to such a degree Stowe and her Tom, along with Lincoln and Frederick Douglass are credited with the abolition of slavery. When Lincoln first met Stowe he said to her "So you're the little lady who started this great war". Simon Legree is an archetypical evil slave owner that Tom finds himself in the clutches of late in life. Sambo and Quimbo are Legree's cruel black overseers. Legree purchased Tom because of his intelligence, with the intention of putting him in charge, but he finds out that Tom is incapable of the inhumanity needed to fill the job. Legree, along with Sambo and Quimbo become his constant tormentors. “Quimbo seized Tom... ‘and no mistake! See how ye’ll look, now, helpin’ Mas’r’s niggers to run away! See what ye’ll get’” “Well, Tom!” said Legree. walking up, and seizing him by the collar of his coat, and speaking through his teeth, in a paroxysm of determined rage, “do you know I’ve made up my mind to KILL you?” “It’s very likely Mas’r,” said Tom, calmly. “I have,” said Legree, with grim terrible calmness, “done – just – that – thing, Tom, unless you’ll tell me what you know about these yer gals (escaped slaves)!” Tom stood silent. “D’ye hear?” said Legree, stamping with a roar like that of an incensed lion. “Speak!” “I haven’t got nothing to tell, Mas’r,” said Tom, with a slow, firm, deliberate utterance. “Do you dare to tell me, ye old black Christian, ye don’t know?” said Legree. Tom was silent. “Speak!” thundered Legree, striking him furiously. “Do you know anything?” “I know, Mas’r; but I can’t tell anything. I can die!” After one more appeal to Simon Legree to repent, where Tom declares that he would happily give every ounce of his blood to save Legree’s precious soul, Tom is beaten to death carrying to his grave the hiding place of the escaped slaves. Before he dies Sambo and Quimbo, upon seeing Tom’s bravery facing death and the perplexing mercy he showed them and Legree during his murder in forgiving them, show genuine regret for the parts they played in his death, and they implore Tom to share his faith in Christ with them. Tom prays with them and leads them both to Christ just before he breaths his last. Uncle Tom may be the most heroic Black character in the history of American Literature, yet Uncle Tom's Cabin has been taken off the reading lists of many school districts because they say it stereotypes African Americans. Worse yet, Uncle Tom's name is villified by today's African American population as being synonymous to those African Americans who do not conform to the Liberal agenda and are deemed traitors to the community. The result is that a book and character that played an instrumental part in the abolition of slavery in this country, and are illustrative of what is essentially greatest in human nature have fallen out of favor. It shows how ignorance is perpetuated and how false information can spread like an unabated pox with the same withering effect on society. Uncle Tom's Cabin is an astonishing book, that remains relevant even to this day. Every American should read it, as should every Christian throughout the world. But it is relegated by most to the trash heap of history.

It's no coincidence that some of the most popular books in the United States are also the most controversial, as far as interpretation and characterization are concerned. This includes, most prominently, the Holy Bible. You could tell a pretty complete history of the United States just through the changing interpretations of and arguments over it, starting with the First Great Awakening which preceded the war for independence, and going through the Second Great Awakening, the Civil War, the missionary work among the American Indians, the progressive movement and the white slavery panic, the Scopes monkey trial, both world wars, and the civil rights movement, the rise of the religious right in the seventies, and even up to the most recent vote in DNC whether to include language referring to God in the platform. Given that the United States has been the nexus of so-called "scientific creationism" , this list of major works could not be complete without Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species and George McCready Price's The New Geology, a book written as a response to the Charles Lyell's Principles of Geology and which laid out for the first time the concepts we now call young-Earth creationism (though George McCready Price was himself Canadian). But there are also smaller books that probably deserve to be mentioned. One of them is Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. Another is J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. Given the author Dalton Trumbo's treatment during the McCarthy hearings, there's Johnny Got His Gun, the story of a broken soldier's disillusionment with war. More recently, there've been O. J. Simpson's If I Did It, in which the author having been formally cleared of charges of murder, lays out a hypothetical scenario describing how he would have done it, and Tango Makes Three, a children's book based around the true story of two male penguins cooperating to raise an abandoned egg, denounced by certain elements as promoting a "gay agenda."

Karl Marx's The Communist Manifesto - We've spent decades fighting against the ideals of this book. Even today it's synonymous with a dirty word among politicians: "Oh, you're just socialist" Everyone knows that the next step from that is Communism - at least that's what's implied. Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin - This book terrified whites, but more importantly it became a negative beacon for African-Americans even through today. There have been numerous instances in which African-Americans that were too close to their Caucasian counterparts have been called "Uncle Tom." It keeps the idea alive that you can't be too close to the Caucasian race if you want to keep your identity as an African-American and this has fueled violence, rage, riots, and simple hate. Alfred Kinsey's The Sexual Behavior in the Human Male and The Sexual Behavior in the Human Female - No one was happy with the Kinsey scale that declared that only a small portion of the society was 100% heterosexual or homosexual. No one wanted to face the fact that it was ok to fantasize about people of the same sex, or to have tendencies. Even today, while this is largely accepted, it is highly criticized by those that fear what it means, and by those that are blinded to their own human nature. The Bible - As a predominately Christian culture, no book could be as controversial. There are random sects of the population that are perverse in their readings, but even without that, there are too many sects of Christianity for them to all agree all the time. Also, you only have to look at an election to see why this is probably the most controversial book in American history.

I would agree with Beecher-Stowe, Kinsey, and Sinclair.  These are books that spawned controversy. Marx and Engels didn't cause the controversy. "Marxism" became the boogie monster but historical events and many other writers, theorists and activists would have driven socialism and the progressives against the overwhelming power of the 19th Century industrialists. Sinclair is one example. The Bible is also not the controversy. The controversy is all about what is done with the Judeo-christian Bible and what is done in the name of said works.  The conflict isn't about the contents, but whether or not you should have any other books on your shelf. Uncle Tom's Cabin was an attempt at an honest portrayal of slavery.  Twain's Huck Finn had a similar impact on the continued existence of racism after slavery.  Hawthorn's The Scarlet Letter continues to conflict with "community values" and should be required reading for anyone who thinks that "political correctness" is new under the Sun. Crane's Red Badge of Courage dares to challenge the glory of war.  Any list including Kinsey, should include Our Bodies, Ourselves. Science is always controversial when it takes on sex. Speaking of science, where is Darwin? Though again, in the context of contents versus usage, I could see an argument for The Origin of the Species being the object of conflict.  Nader's Unsafe at Any Speed, Carson's Silent Spring, and Freidan's Feminine Mystique are probably in this category.

Another one is Upton Sinclair's The Jungle. Though he intended it to be an expose on the terrible working conditions for low-wage employees, the graphic scenes of meatpacking plants caused an uproar and resulted in the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act.

Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin.   There are a number of aspects of this crucial literary work that are largely forgotten today. 1. The anti-slavery sentiment of the book was concealed in the early chapters of the novel   Mrs. Stowe is careful not to offend those readers who might be defenders of slavery. She initially portraying Tom's owners as good and decent people.  Tom and his family actually do live in a cabin. Though he is a slave, he is well-treated and appears to be living a tolerable life. Tom describes his master as "kind."   It is only when his owner is faced with imminent financial ruin that Tom is sold. His owner rationalizes the sale this way: If I don't sell Tom to settle my debts, the entire plantation will be seized and all of the slaves will suffer. Better that it happens to him (and to one another slave, a child) than to all of my slaves.   The new master who acquires Tom also treats him relatively decently. The owner's daughter begs her father to free Tom. After her untimely death, her father agrees to do just that. Before the papers freeing Tom are drawn up, the owner is robbed and killed. To settle the estate, Tom is once again sold, this time to the brutal Simon Legree. By this time, the reader has come to root for Tom.   2. In a memorable passage, Stowe attacks the "good" slaveholders, making them responsible for the brutal ones. When a master describes how well he treats his slaves, another person answers along the lines of, "But don't you understand that good people like you owning slaves makes it possible for cruel and evil people to own slaves as well?  This exchange is an argument to the slaveholding reader who viewed himself as a good man.   3.  Simon Legree, the cruel slaveholder, was originally from the North.   Mrs. Stowe was careful not to indict any single region of the country for slavery. The brutal Simon Legree was a Northerner who had moved down South.   4. Tom was meant to be a Christ-like figure.   By the 1960s, the term "Uncle Tom" came to mean a Black man who wouldn't stand up for himself, who would allow the white man to mistreat him. This is not what Mrs. Stowe intended at all.   As the daughter of a clergyman, the wife of a theologian, and the sister of a prominent clergyman, Mrs. Stowe was influenced by Christian theology to create a 19th century version of Jesus, a non-violent Black man who was crucified on the cross of slavery. His final beating occurred because he assisted in the escape of two other slaves and refused to tell Legree where they were hiding. Tom gave up his life to save the lives of others.    We see this noble self-sacrifice throughout the novel.   When Tom learns that his first master is being forced to sell him, he has the opportunity to escape. He refuses, pointing out that if he flees, the master would only have to sell another slave. He didn't want to be responsible for causing the suffering of another slave.   Later, while in chains, Tom jumps into a river to save a little girl from drowning. Not only does he put his life at risk for a complete stranger, he does so to save a white child.    This is what makes Uncle Tom's Cabin so controversial.   Rather than present a clear anti-slavery novel that would only preach to the choir, Harriet Beecher Stowe creates a book that initially might attract those who supported or at least tolerated slavery.   Rather than portray all slaveholders in a negative light, the first two families that own Tom are viewed as likeable and kind. When Tom's second master informs him of his impending freedom, Tom's joy shocks him. "Do you think I mistreated you"? he asks. Tom replies that being a slave on this plantation has kept him from his wife and children. The owner is shocked, never having realized that no amount of decency can compensate for the wrong that the slave is experiencing. This disclosure might equally have surprised the slaveholding reader.   Rather than indict the South for the institution of slavery, Mrs. Stowe presents the key Southern slaveholders as good and decent men. The cruelest character in the book is a transplanted Yankee.   Rather than present Tom as an angry slave who, if freed, might seek revenge against those who wronged him, Tom is portrayed as a true Christian who loves and forgives those who made him and his people suffer. The nature of Tom is such that no one would have any reason to fear him. He's not a Nat Turner. He's another Jesus.   And for those reasons, Uncle Tom's Cabin was one of the most controversial novels of its era.

[ Best Tips ] Read Online or Download Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe Full eBook For Your PC or Mobile Now you can get access of full pages just join free to be a Member. i and my friends always read the popular book here because this book content can easy access on PC, Tablet or Iphone. go here : http://tinyurl.com/jlhdv88  Here are the short overview of this book: The narrative drive of Stowe's classic novel is often overlooked in the heat of the controversies surrounding its anti-slavery sentiments. In fact, it is a compelling adventure story with richly drawn characters and has earned a place in both literary and American history. Stowe's puritanical religious beliefs show up in the novel's final, overarching theme—the exploration of the nature of Christianity and how Christian theology is fundamentally incompatible with slavery.. this book is very recommended and Sensational to read. based on social media research this book also very most wanted. There’s also other available format to download: PDF Kindle ePub Mobi Daisy Just Experience all the content you could possibly want from comprehensive library of timeless classics and new releases there. Perhaps this sharing helpfully.  

Darwin's Origin of the Species spawned a theory that is being debated and argued to this day

Several people mention the Bible, but I would also add the religious text that caused a uniquely American controversy: The Book of Mormon.