Uncle Tom's Cabin-Summary

A basic summary is all that is necessary here. The story begins at the Shelby plantation in Kentucky. Tom and Harry are the best slaves Mr. Shelby has. When Mr. Shelby cannot pay all of his debts, he is forced to sell some slaves. A slave-trader, Mr. Haley selects Tom and Harry both for selling. Harry’s mother, Eliza, cannot bear the thought of being separated from her child. Since her own husband has already made an escape, she decides to do the same. Eliza gathers Harry up and begins her escape. She stops at Tom’s cabin to try to convince him to go as well, but he decides he must be loyal to Mr. Shelby. The story then breaks into two plotlines, one following Eliza and Harry as they make their way north to Canada and another following Tom.
Eliza and Harry race up the Ohio River with Haley right behind them. They get across the Ohio River into northern territory and find shelter and sympathy from Senator Bird. Eliza and Harry are taken to a nearby Quaker community where they find Eliza’s husband George. The family finds a boat going to Canada and evades capture by men Haley has hired to find them.
Upset over losing Harry, Haley intends to sell Tom in New Orleans for the highest price he can get. Tom resigns himself to his destiny and reads his Bible as he is taken down the Mississippi River. While on the steamboat, Tom meets Eva St. Clare and becomes a guardian to her. He saves her when she falls off the ship. For this kindness, Tom is bought by Eva’s father and lives at the St. Clare plantation. Tom lives a fairly comfortable life at the St. Clare plantation, growing fonder of Eva. However, Eva becomes ill and dies leaving Mr. St. Clare in deep grief. He plans to free Tom for his many kindnesses to Eva, but never gets around to doing it legally. He is killed while trying to stop an argument between two drunken men. Once again, Tom is sold to pay debts at the St. Clare plantation.
This time he is sold to Simon Legree, a cruel plantation owner. Tom befriends Cassy, another slave on the plantation. Legree drinks heavily and beats his slaves when he is drunk. Tom often takes the worst of his beatings. Cassy and Emmeline, another slave, plan an escape from Legree’s plantation. As Tom is dying of the beatings, George Shelby, son of Tom’s original owner, appears to try to purchase Tom from Legree. Legree refuses and Tom dies in George Shelby’s arms. George buries Tom and returns to Kentucky by steamboat. There he is able to help Cassy and Emmeline, who have finally managed to escape from Legree’s plantation.