At the beginning of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe, the reader is introduced to Uncle Tom, a kind and gentle enslaved man living on a Kentucky plantation owned by Mr. Shelby. Uncle Tom is well-liked by both his fellow enslaved people and Mr. Shelby, who treats him with a degree of leniency compared to other plantation owners. The plot is set in motion when Mr. Shelby, in financial trouble, is forced to sell Uncle Tom to a brutal slave trader named Mr. Haley in order to pay off his debts. This separation from his family and the life he has known for so long marks the beginning of Uncle Tom's harrowing journey through the brutal world of slavery.
