- Eliza’s mistress had brought her up as a "petted and indulged favorite." And, the narrator informs us, Eliza’s lucky that she has Mrs. Shelby as a mistress because she protected Eliza from "those temptations that make beauty so fatal an inheritance to a slave."
- Eliza is married to another slave, George Harris, who is also partly white. George’s master has hired him out to a manufacturer. In his new place, George has invented a machine for cleaning hemp.
- Although he’s profiting from George’s skills, George’s master grows jealous when he hears George praised, deciding to teach him a lesson for being so "smart." On the spot, he decides to take George home with him and put him back to working the lowest chores on the farm.
- George smolders under such treatment and longs for his freedom.
- When the manufacturer tries to reason with George’s master, to let him return to his former employment, George’s master refuses.