The war is over, the Confederacy having surrendered, freeing the slaves. Mr. Harvey invites the slaves to stay if they wish, maybe sharecropping. The rest of the plantation owners, a senator and the sheriff have a meeting to discuss options, with the senator declaring that he's come to buy a lot of land. When tempers flare, the sheriff leaves. President Lincoln is shot by John Wilkes Booth. The former Harvey slaves' encampment is visited by masked men with torches on horses and Harvey is warned to "keep out of it".