Arthur Stillwell, a Kentucky rancher in the 1850's, is forced by debt to sell his favorite slaves, Luke and Jericho. Nathan MacKay, a former slaveship captain and Mississippi plantation owner, buys Luke and Jericho, in addition to a 16-year-old girl named Emmeline. MacKay's home is filled with African art, and although he showers his slave-mistress, Cassy, with clothing and jewelry, he enjoys humiliating her and treating his other slaves cruelly. One night a slave woman dies during childbirth because of MacKay's refusal to call a doctor; Luke adopts the child and vows that she will never grow up to be a slave. Cassy comes to respect Luke's strength and begins to defy MacKay. One night when he is drunk, she threatens to stab him, but she is dissuaded by Luke who promises to arrange an escape. With the help of Jericho, Luke hides Cassy, Emmeline, and the infant in an attic, but MacKay discovers their plot. He tortures Jericho to try to discover Cassy's whereabouts but is unsuccessful. When MacKay offers Luke his freedom in exchange for knowledge of Cassy's whereabouts, Luke is silent, and MacKay flogs him to death. His death unites the rest of the slaves, and the housekeeper sets the cotton sheds on fire to divert MacKay's attention from Cassy, Jericho, Emmeline, and the infant, who make their escape with the help of a sympathetic neighbor.