North and South

1842: Orry Main leaves the cotton plantation near Charleston that hes heir to on his way to West Point for two years of officers training. On the way, he meets and falls in love with Madeline Fabray, who agrees to write to him. However, her father needs her to wed Orrys rude neighbor, rich plantation owner Justin LaMotte. Orrys letters to Madeline become intercepted by her father so she becomes susceptible to Justins generous courting. At West Point, Orry meets fellow cadet George Hazard, son of a Pennsylvania manufacturer. The hazing lives up to its reputation, not least due to drill master Elkanah Bent, who takes particular pleasure in humbling the cadets at sword-practice, but is humiliatingly defeated by Orry. George introduces Orry to his Pennsylvania family and their iron factory. After graduating and returning home, Orry stops an overseer from happily whipping a slave, but his father, Tillet, refuses to sack the sadist.

George and Orrys friendship is severely tested when one of the Mains slaves escapes. Orry still travels to Pennsylvania for George and Constances wedding, but when he hears a speech given by Virgilia Hazard at an abolitionist rally, he realizes the depth of their divisions. Georges mother decides that he should assume full control at the family iron works, much to his older brother Stanleys dismay. Orrys father dies, and his first act as owner of the plantation is to fire the cruel slave overseer. Orrys cousin Charles finds himself challenged to a duel and Orry acts as his second. Orrys sister Ashton is something of a flirt and being pursued by lawyer James Huntoon. The Mains visit the Hazards for the summer, where Charles and Georges younger brother Billy, who are both West Point-bound, become close friends. Orrys younger sister, Brett, takes an interest in Billy but he seems to prefer Ashton. Madelines marriage to Justin continues to decline after he beats and whips her.

With Madeline locked in her room and nearly starving to death, Justin convinces the doctor to prescribes a daily dose of laudanum despite its addictive qualities. Madeline is soon a very different woman: submissive and with few words to say, having little memory of her love affair with Orry and their decision to run off together. Orry and Brett travel to Philadelphia where he wants to give his good friend George Hazard his share of the profits from their joint cotton mill. Unfortunately while there, Virgilia has a confrontation with Orry over slavery. Orry and Brett leave and it will be some time before before he and George see one another. On the trip home, they are stopped by a group led by abolitionist John Brown. Ashton, now married to James Hontoon, still spends a good deal of her time in bed with her other lovers. The secession movement quickly gains ground and war is seen as inevitable should Abraham Lincoln win the forthcoming elections.

Orry and Charles, now officers in the Confederate Army, leave the Main family plantation for the war in Virginia. Orry, despite having been against secession, accepts a commission to brigadier general and begins to serve as military aide to Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Richmond. Meanwhile, George and Billy are in Washington, D.C., where they are officers in the U.S. Army. Billy joins the U.S. Sharpshooters regiment, while George also accepts a commission, though only to colonel, and becomes a military aide to U.S. President Abraham Lincoln.

By September 1862, the South appears to be on the verge of victory. President Lincoln wants to emancipate all slaves but recognizes he needs a victory on the battlefield before he can do so. Dissatisfied with his current commander, he sends George Hazard to sound out Gen. Ulysses S. Grant on whether he would take on overall command of the Northern forces. After the disgruntled former overseer kills a runaway slave from Mont Royal, the family decides to offer safe passage to any of their slaves who wish to leave. Soon after, Ashton arrives and is shocked to find Brett and Madeline working in the fields. She also reveals to Madeline that she knows her great secret, which she will make public unless she leaves. Virgilia is now working in a Union field hospital and is admonished by the chief nurse, Mrs. Neal, to treat all soldiers the same. Charles and Billy come face-to-face on the battlefield.

Charles and Orry set out to rescue George Hazard, who is being held at Libby Prison in Richmond. They make sure he gets back to Union lines and he makes it home for Christmas. As he recovers, however, he learns that a warrant has been issued for his arrest for selling faulty cannons to the Army. He goes after Morgan, the black marketeer, and his brother Stanley does the right thing. At Mont Royal, Brett has an unfortunate encounter with Salem Jones. Madeline has been continuing her good works in Charleston, helping those living in the shanty town and gets Rafe Baudeens help when a group of young boys are taken to dig rifle pits for the army. Bent continues to dream of taking control of the Confederacy and gets Ashton to sleep with a contributor. Bent has a large stash of ammo and powder but Orry is soon onto him. An exhausted Charles visits Augusta Barclay.

With the war having come to an end, Orry and Madeline are living in Richmond until Mont Royal can be rebuilt, where Bent and Ashton pay them a visit. Ashton thinks its to get money out of Orry, but Bent has revenge in mind. Ashton pushes Bent into the river and when he awakens, he cant remember who he is. Madeline relocates to South Carolina, intent on rebuilding their former home. With the help of Prudence, she also wants to build a school. George Hazard visits Madeline with a business proposition. After his visit, Madeline gets a night time visit by the Ku Klux Klan. Just as he arrives home in Lehigh Station, Pennsylvania George finds that Bent has already been there.

When George Hazard learns that its his sister-in-law who owns the majority shares in the mining operation at Mont Royal, he turns to his brother Stanley, who again does the right thing. George returns to Mont Royal with Madeline and as the new owner of the mine, makes his first act shuttering the company store. He and Madeline soon fall in love. When George learns that Bent has kidnapped Charlies young son, he sets off to find him. He and Charlie track Bent down for a final confrontation. Back in South Carolina, George and Madeline prepare for an attack from the Klan. Ashton returns to find what remains of her beloved Mont Royal.