An unscrupulous Southern landowner takes advantage of racial tensions to extend his holdings.

Following World War II, a Northern canning plant negotiates for the purchase of a large tract of uncultivated Georgia farmland, and all but two small plots are optioned from owner Julie Ann Warren and her bigoted, draft-dodging husband, Henry. The remaining land belongs to Henry's cousin, Rad McDowell, a combat veteran with a wife and family, and Reeve Scott, a young black whose mother had been Julie's mammy. Neither Rad nor Reeve is interested in selling, and they form an unprecedented biracial partnership to improve their land. Henry, infuriated by this turn of events, remains determined to push through the big land deal, and when Reeve's mother dies, he tries to persuade Julie to charge Reeve with illegal ownership of his property, confident that bigoted Judge Purcell will rule against a black. Meanwhile, schoolteacher Vivian Thurlow, granddaughter of the most respected member in the local black community, finds proof in the town's official records that Reeve's land deed is legally registered. Later, Julie decides to leave Henry because of his negligent care of their retarded son and withdraws any claim to Reeve's land. In a desperate move to force the partners to sell, Henry dynamites the dam above their farms; Rad's oldest child is caught in the raging waters as the area is flooded and drowns in spite of a rescue attempt by Henry, whom the child had idolized. The tragedy unites McDowell and his wife, Lou, even more closely with Reeve and Vivian, who have fallen in love. As they set about rebuilding the farms, they are aided by neighboring blacks.