Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811 - 1896) was an American abolitionist and a writer. She is best known for her novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin," which depicts the harsh conditions for enslaved African Americans. "The Minister's Wooing" is her third historical novel, a domestic comedy that examines slavery, Protestant theology, and gender differences in early America. It is set in eighteenth-century Newport, Rhode Island, a community known for its engagement in both religious piety and the slave trade.