When Kentucky plantation owner George Shelby is forced to sell several of his slaves, one of them, Eliza Harris, escapes across the icy Ohio River with her child. Kindly old Uncle Tom, however, is sold to a Southern slave trader and begins his voyage down the Mississippi River. During the trip, he rescues little Eva St. Clair from the river, and out of gratitude, the girl's father buys him. At the St. Clair home in New Orleans, Uncle Tom, Little Eva, and a mischievous little slave named Topsy become such close friends that Eva extracts a promise from her father to free the slave. The delicate Eva becomes ill and dies, and because her father is killed soon afterwards, St. Clair's promise goes unfulfilled, and Uncle Tom is sold to the brutal Simon Legree. Continually beaten, Uncle Tom finally dies just as George Shelby, Jr. arrives offering to repurchase the slave and take him home. Before his death, Uncle Tom sees a vision of Eva beckoning him to join her in heaven.
—AFI