Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site is an open air museum and African American history centre near Dresden, Ontario, Canada, that includes the home of Josiah Henson, a former slave, author, abolitionist, and minister, who, through his 1849 autobiography The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself, was the inspiration for Harriet Beecher Stowe's title character in her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin.The 5-acre (20,000 m²) complex is part of the original 200 acres (0.81 km²) of land purchased in 1841 to establish the Dawn Settlement, a community for escaped slaves.