First Lady Michelle Obama affirms that “No country can ever truly flourish if it stifles the potential of its women and deprives itself of the contributions of half its citizens.” Early in our history, ideas and debates about the abolition of slavery spread and burst into flame in the 19th century. Women who battled to eradicate slavery include Sarah and Angelina Grimke, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Catherine Coffin, and Harriet Jacobs. I urge you to learn about their brave lives and contributions. Abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe’s most famous book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, published in 1852, shone a searing light on the cruelty of slavery. Millions read it. During the 19th century, it was second, after the Bible, in sales in