Uncle Toms Cabin brought the evils of slavery to the hearts and minds of the American people by its moving portrayal of slave experience. Harriet Beecher Stowe shows us, in scenes of great dramatic power, the human effects of a system in which slaves were property. When a Kentucky farmer falls on hard times he is forced to sell all his slaves, and among them is Uncle Tom, who's bought by a brutal plantation owner. The novel describes the horror of plantation labour and Tom's fight for his freedom and his life.