Henry is a slave in Virginia. When his master is about to die, he is given to the master's son to work in a tobacco factory. Henry eventually marries and has a family. Upon the sale of his wife and children, he knows, more than ever before, that he must be free. Through the help of a kind doctor, he embarks on his journey to freedom in the most unusual way. It is in this unusual way that he earns the nickname, Henry "Box" Brown.