The first London edition appeared in May and soldcopies. However, while Stowe claimed A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin documented her previously consulted sources, she actually read many of the cited works only after the publication of her novel.
Stowe expanded the story significantly, however, and it was instantly popular, such that several protests were sent to the Era office when she missed an issue.
Legree has Sambo and the other overseer whip Tom until he is near death; finally Legree gives up, and the dying Tom forgives him and the two men who whipped him. She had at most a ready command of broadly conceived melodrama, humor, and pathos, and of these popular sentiments she compounded her book.
In Louisiana, Uncle Tom almost succumbs to hopelessness as his faith in God is tested by the hardships of the plantation.
The newly reunited family travels to France and decides to move to Liberia, the African nation created for former American slaves. When Eliza and Uncle Tom discover the bargain, they react quite differently.