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Plot summary
Eliza escapes with her son, Tom sold "down the river"
The book opens with a Kentucky farmer named Arthur Shelby facing the loss of his farm because of . Even though he and his wife (Emily Shelby) believe that they have a relationship with their slaves, Shelby decides to raise the needed funds by selling two of them—Uncle Tom, a man with a wife and children, and Harry, the son of Emily Shelby’s Eliza—to a . Emily Shelby hates the idea of doing this because she had promised her maid that her child would never be sold; Emily's son, George Shelby, hates to see Tom go because he sees the old man as his friend and .
When Eliza overhears Mr. and Mrs. Shelby discussing plans to sell Tom and Harry, Eliza to run away with her son. The novel states that Eliza made this decision not because of physical , but by her of losing her only surviving child (she had already lost two children due to miscarriage). Eliza that night, leaving a note of to her mistress.
While all of this is happening, Uncle Tom is sold and placed on a , which sets sail down the Mississippi River. While , Tom meets and a young white girl named Eva. When Eva falls into the river, Tom saves her. In , Eva's father, Augustine St. Clare, buys Tom from the slave trader and takes him with the family to their home in New Orleans. During this time, Tom and Eva begin to to one another because of the deep Christian faith they both share.
Eliza's family hunted, Tom's life with St. Clare
During Eliza's escape, she meets up with her husband George Harris, who ran away . They decide to to reach Canada. However, they are now being by a slave hunter named Tom Loker. Eventually Loker and his men Eliza and her family, George to shoot Loker. Worried that Loker may die, Eliza convinces George to bring the slave hunter to a nearby Quaker for medical treatment.
Back in New Orleans, St. Clare slavery with his cousin Ophelia who, while slavery, is deeply against Black people. St. Clare, however, believes he is not , even though he is a slave owner. In an attempt to show Ophelia that her on Blacks are wrong, St. Clare purchases Topsy, a young black slave. St. Clare then asks Ophelia to Topsy.
After Tom has lived with the St. Clares for two years, Eva grows very ill. Before she dies she experiences a of heaven, which she shares with the people around her. As a result of her death and vision, the other characters to change their lives, with Ophelia promising to love her slaves more, Topsy saying she will better herself, and St. Clare to free Uncle Tom.
Tom sold to Simon Legree
Before St. Clare can follow through on his pledge, he is fatally stabbed while in a fight. His wife on her late husband's and sells Tom at auction to a plantation owner named Simon Legree. Legree (who is not a southerner but a Yankee) takes Tom to Louisiana, where Tom meets Legree's other slaves, including Emmeline (whom Legree purchased at the same time). Legree begins to hate Tom when Tom Legree's order to whip his fellow slave. Tom receives a brutal beating, and Legree to crush Tom's faith in God. But Tom refuses to stop reading his Bible and the other slaves as best he can. While at the plantation, Tom meets Cassy, another of Legree's slaves. Cassy was previously separated from her son and daughter when they were sold; unable to the pain of seeing another child sold, she her third child.
At this point Tom Loker to the story. Loker has changed as the result of being healed by the Quakers. George, Eliza, and Harry have also their freedom after crossing into Canada.
In Louisiana, Uncle Tom almost to hopelessness as his faith in God is tested by the of the plantation. However, he has two visions—one of Jesus and one of Eva—which renews his resolve to a faithful Christian, even unto death. He Cassy to escape, which she does, taking Emmeline with her. When Tom refuses to tell Legree where Cassy and Emmeline have gone, Legree orders his to kill Tom. As Tom is dying, he forgives the overseers who beat him. by the character of the man they have killed, both men become Christians. After Tom's death, George Shelby (Arthur Shelby's son) to buy Tom’s freedom, but he is too late.
Final Section
On their boat ride to freedom, Cassy and Emmeline meet George Harris' sister and her to Canada. Once there Cassy discovers that Eliza is her daughter who was sold as a child. Now that their family is together again, they travel to France and eventually Liberia, the African created for former American slaves. There they meet Cassy's long-lost son. George Shelby returns to the Kentucky farm and frees all his slaves. George tells them to remember Tom's and his belief in the true meaning of .
This text comes from Wikipedia.
