The Key to Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Barnes & Noble Digital Library)

This 1853 non-fiction companion to the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) provides documentary evidence supporting the novel’s realistic depiction of slavery as a cruel and evil institution.  The subtitle says it all:  “Presenting the Original Facts and Documents upon Which the Story Is Founded, Together with Corroborative Statements Verifying the Truth of the Work.” Like the novel itself, the Key generated a storm of controversy in the North and South alike.