 Shaw read Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, who he came to know. Uncle Tom's Cabin, with its horrifying depictions of slavery, had a galvanizing effect on the American abolition movement. It was a controversial book that helped to divide the sections of the country further. Soon, Shaw would have an opportunity to take up arms and fight back against the injustices he had read about, and he would embark on a military career that was both historic and short-lived.