The book that Sunny is being taught how to read by Veil is John Milton's Paradise Lost and the full line being read is found in Book I, line 22 where the Narrator states: "What in me is dark Illumine, what is low raise and support, That to the height of this great argument I may assert eternal Providence, And justify the ways of God to men."
The plantation is actually near Wallace, LA, but is correctly named The Evergreen Plantation
Marton Csokas who plays Baron Quinn, played Celeborn, the elven Lord of Lothlorien in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)