On a winter afternoon in the early 1850s, two white men, Shelby and Haley, discuss business in Shelby’s dining room on a Kentucky farm. Shelby is preparing to sell two slaves to Haley, a slave-trader: Someone named Tom, a capable, honest, Christian, is one. Haley demands another, and when a small boy comes into the room, Haley says he wants the child, too. The boy’s mother collects the child, and Haley remarks on her marketability, but Shelby refuses to sell her. But the mother, Eliza, hears the trader offer to buy the child and tells her mistress that she fears little Harry will be sold. Mrs. Shelby, not knowing of Shelby’s indebtedness, assures Eliza that Shelby would never do such a thing.
