Uncle Tom’s Cabin
(Harriet Beecher Stowe)

The novel opens in Kentucky, where Mr. Shelby, the owner of a farmstead, is talking to slave trader named Haley about settling his debts. Mr. Shelby is a kind man and doesn't want to sell any of his slaves, but agrees to give up Uncle Tom, a reliable, Christian man, and Harry, a young mulatto boy. Eliza, the boy's mother, overhears the conversation and that night runs away with Harry. Uncle Tom stays behind in order that his family might remain safe.

Eliza runs towards the Ohio River and is chased by Haley and a couple of farm-hands. She makes it to the river, but it is half-covered in ice. Seeing her pursuers, she jumps over the ice and makes it to the other side.

Uncle Tom is taken by Haley the next day, and young George Shelby promises Tom that he will buy him back. They board a boat and head south, towards New Orleans. On the boat, Tom meets Evangeline, a beautiful young girl. One day, he saves her from drowning in the river and her father, Augustine St. Clare, buys him.

Meanwhile, Eliza meets up with her husband George Harris and, helped by the Quakers, they set out for Canada. They are pursued by a man named Tom Lokes whose job is to recapture escaped slaves. He catches up with the group in between settlements and is shot by George. Alive but wounded, Lokes is taken to the settlement by Eliza and George.

St. Clare takes Tom back to his estate where his overly-vain wife, Marie, is waiting. His cousin Ophelia is also there, a New England Christian who doesn't believe slavery is right. St. Clare and Ophelia have many philosophical discussions about the nature of religion, morality and slavery, with multiple viewpoints coming up. St. Clare doesn't believe in slavery, and so treats his slaves as almost equal with him. Ophelia, although she professes to be against slavery, has an aversion to the slaves that St. Clare takes note of. Calling her out on her hidden prejudices, he buys a young mischievous girl named Topsy for Ophelia to educate.

Two years pass in which Tom and Eva develop a close friendship. They enjoy reading the bible together, and Tom thinks Eva is an angel. However, Eva is slowly becoming more and more ill. Before she dies she exhibits Christ-like love to all the slaves in the household. After Eva's death, St. Clare agrees to free Tom. Before he can write the papers, St. Clare is unexpectedly killed, and Tom is sold along with his estate.

He and the other slaves are sent to a slave warehouse. Tom is sold to a Louisiana plantation owner named Simon Legree, along with a young mulatto girl named Emmeline. Work on the plantation is hard, and even the slaves are cruel to each other. Tom draws negative notice from Legree when he refuses to whip another slave. He meets Legree's old slave-mistress Cassy, a strong-willed, bitter woman.

Eliza and George eventually make it to Canada, where slavery doesn't exist, and they can build a life for themselves.

Tom's faith wanes, and then he has a vision of Jesus. After the vision, he is transformed. Always happy, peaceful and kind, he draws admiration from the slaves and hatred from the overseers and Legree. One night, Cassy asks Tom to kill Legree. Tom, in his new holy state, urges Cassy to run away with Emmeline instead. They run, and Tom is blamed. Legree has Tom beaten almost to death because he refused to give up information.

Before Tom dies, George Shelby comes to the estate to buy Tom. He is enraged when he finds out Tom's condition and hears Tom's dying words. George buries Tom and vows to do whatever he can to end slavery in America. On the boat back to Kentucky, George meets Cassy (who has escaped) and Madame De Thoux. The Madame turns out to be George Harris' long-lost sister, and Cassy Eliza's mother. The two travel to Canada to be reunited with their family. They eventually move to Liberia, a nation of freed slaves. George goes home to Kentucky and writes all his slaves free papers and promises to pay them fair wages if they wish to stay with him.

The final chapter of the book is a call to action for all Americans to end the cruelties of slavery and restore a Christian America.