Kentucky farmer Arthur Shelby is about to lose his farm due to debt, so he sells his slaves. His maid Eliza and her son Harry escape, but Uncle tom (middle aged man with wife and children) is sold to slave trader Mr. Haley. While being transported on a riverboat, Tom befriends a little white girl named Eva. Eva falls of the boat and is saved by Tom, causing Eva's father, Augustine St. Clare to buy Tom and takes him to New Orleans. After escaping, Eliza reunites with her husband George Harris, but is confronted by a slave Hunter named Loker. George shoots Loker and they take him to a quaker house for treatment. In New Orleans, St. Clare is debating slavery with his northern cousin Ophelia, and gives her a slave named Topsy to educate. After 2 years Eva becomes sick and dies resulting in Clare promising to free Tom. However, Clare is killed in a tavern, and his wife sells Tom to Simon Legree, a plantation owner. He is severely beaten and meets fellow slaves Cassy and Emmeline. Eliza and her family were helped by Loker and travel to Canada where they are freed. Tom helps Cassy and Emmeline escape, and after refusing to reveal where they went, Legree orders him to be killed. Tom forgives the men who beat him which causes them to rethink their decisions and let him live. Arthur Shelby's son George comes to free Tom, but Tom dies shortly after. Cassy meets Eliza and realizes she was her long-lost daughter, and they the reunited family travel back to Africa. After Arthur's death George frees all of his slaves and decides to live a pious life like Tom's.
I will give this book 5/5 for plot, characters, and historical significance. Alone this book is so influential and most likely contributed to rising tensions between the north and south before the Civil war.
I will give this book 5/5 for plot, characters, and historical significance. Alone this book is so influential and most likely contributed to rising tensions between the north and south before the Civil war.