By 1837, Harriet's geography textbook had sold widely to schools, and she saw that writing could supplement her husband's income. Beginning even before her marriage, Harriet published short fiction in popular magazines and church periodicals, and in 1843, Harper Brothers publishers brought out The Mayflower, a collection of her stories and sketches. She also wrote religious pamphlets and essays in literary criticism.
Less than a year after the death of her sixth child, pregnant with her seventh, Harriet left Cincinnati for Brunswick, Maine, where her husband had accepted a teaching post. She had written very little for five years and had never attempted a long work of fiction, but now she was about to begin the book that would make her famous and would influence antislavery sentiment not only in the United States but around the world as well.
