In the spring of 1864, the Knight Company overthrew the Confederate authorities in Jones County and raised the United States flag over the county courthouse in Ellisville. The county was known as the Free State of Jones, and some say it actually seceded from the Confederacy
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the military land force of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War, fighting against the United States forces. On February 28, 1861, the Provisional Confederate Congress established a provisional volunteer army and gave control over …
Is the Free State of Jones a true story?
The Free State of Jones true story reveals that Newton Knight enlisted in the army in the early fall of 1861. The Free State of Jones book author Victoria E. Bynum believes that Knight did not necessarily enlist out of fear of conscription but rather because he just wanted to be a soldier. -Mississippi History Now
Did Free State of Jones secede from the Confederacy?
The county was known as the Free State of Jones, and some say it actually seceded from the Confederacy. This little-known, counterintuitive episode in American history has now been brought to the screen in Free State of Jones,...
What happened in Jones County in 1864?
In the spring of 1864, the Knight Company overthrew the Confederate authorities in Jones County and raised the United States flag over the county courthouse in Ellisville. The county was known as the Free State of Jones,...
Why was Jones County so disloyal to the Confederacy?
While fact-checking the Free State of Jones movie, we learned that Jones County, Mississippi had only a 12 percent slave population, fewer than any other county in Mississippi. This is the main reason for its heightened disloyalty to the Confederacy. Newton Knight's skillful leadership and the independent tribal spirit of the people helped as well.
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How did The Free State of Jones end?
After the war ends, Rachel, now Newt's second wife, persuades him to move to Soso, Mississippi. Eventually his impoverished first wife and son — whom he abandoned and didn't bother looking for after the war — find them. Somehow, they all end up living happily ever after on Newt's farm in Soso.
What happened to Moses in The Free State of Jones?
Moses Washington's character proactively marches around Jones County after the war registering blacks to vote, resulting in his being lynched and castrated by a white mob. Some viewers may wonder why a character which did not actually exist was brought into the film and forced to suffer such a violent, graphic death.
How historically accurate is Free State of Jones?
Despite the film's real-life basis and its director's extensive research, Free State Of Jones isn't entirely historically accurate. One major deviation from reality the movie made was in its inclusion of fictional characters.
What is the story of The Free State of Jones?
In 1863, Mississippi farmer Newt Knight serves as a medic for the Confederate Army. Opposed to slavery, Knight would rather help the wounded than fight the Union. After his nephew dies in battle, Newt returns home to Jones County to safeguard his family but is soon branded an outlaw deserter. Forced to flee, he finds refuge with a group of runaway slaves hiding out in the swamps. Forging an alliance with the slaves and other farmers, Knight leads a rebellion that would forever change history.Free State of Jones / Film synopsis
What is on Moses head in Free State of Jones?
One of them, Moses (Mahershala Ali), endures a tall, spiked iron collar around his neck, a punishment inflicted by a slave owner for his earlier attempts at escape.
Who was hung in Free State of Jones?
Newton KnightNewton KnightSucceeded byOffice abolishedPersonal detailsBornNovember 10, 1829 Jones County, Mississippi, U.S.DiedFebruary 16, 1922 (aged 92) Jasper County, Mississippi, U.S.11 more rows
What did the twenty Negro law do?
In order to prevent events similar to Nat Turner's revolt in 1831, the Confederate Congress passed a Second Conscription Act, which included a piece of legislation that would become known as the “Twenty Negro Law.” It exempted from military service one white overseer for every 20 enslaved people on a plantation, “to ...
What Plantation was Free State of Jones filmed?
Evergreen Plantation. For exteriors of the Eakins plantation, as well as scenes set in its cotton fields and slave quarters, the production set up at Evergreen Plantation in the town of Edgard in St. John the Baptist Parish.
Was Moses Washington a real person?
Moses Washington (died 1865) was the leader of a group of runaway slaves who helped to form the Free State of Jones in 1862. Washington led several slaves into the swamps of Jones County, Mississippi, where they were joined by Confederate deserter Newton Knight.
Where is Newton Knight buried?
Newt Knight Family Cemetery, MSNewton Knight / Place of burial
What side won the Civil War?
Fact #8: The North won the Civil War. After four years of conflict, the major Confederate armies surrendered to the United States in April of 1865 at Appomattox Court House and Bennett Place.
Who is Davis Knight?
Davis Knight (8 January 1925 – 8 August 1959) was a Mississippi man of distant black descent who, in 1948, was charged with miscegenation for marrying a "white" woman, Junie Lee Spradley.
Was Moses Washington a real person?
Moses Washington (died 1865) was the leader of a group of runaway slaves who helped to form the Free State of Jones in 1862. Washington led several slaves into the swamps of Jones County, Mississippi, where they were joined by Confederate deserter Newton Knight.
What happened in Ellisville Mississippi?
In 1919, Ellisville hosted one of the most gruesome lynchings in history, when a black man, John Hartfield was found to have a white girlfriend. A story was concocted about a rape, and Hartfield was captured by law enforcement.
Who was Davis Knight?
Davis Knight (8 January 1925 – 8 August 1959) was a Mississippi man of distant black descent who, in 1948, was charged with miscegenation for marrying a "white" woman, Junie Lee Spradley.
Is Sumrall Free State of Jones?
William Wesley Sumrall (March 1839-29 June 1911) was a Confederate States Army soldier during the American Civil War who later deserted and joined the Free State of Jones.
What is the free state of Jones about?
Free State of Jones is a 2016 American historical war film inspired by the life of Newton Knight and his armed revolt against the Confederacy in Jones County, Mississippi, throughout the American Civil War. Written and directed by Gary Ross, the film stars Matthew McConaughey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Mahershala Ali, ...
How much did the free state of Jones movie cost?
Box office. $25 million. Free State of Jones is a 2016 American historical war film inspired by the life of Newton Knight and his armed revolt against the Confederacy in Jones County, Mississippi, throughout the American Civil War. Written and directed by Gary Ross, the film stars Matthew McConaughey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Mahershala Ali, ...
What happened to Newton's great grandson?
The film ends with Newton's great-grandson, Davis Knight, being arrested under Mississippi's anti- miscegenation laws in 1948. Since he has an eighth of black ancestry, the law considers him to be black, and he therefore cannot legally marry his long-time white sweetheart. He is sentenced to five years in prison, but his conviction is thrown out by the Mississippi Supreme Court in 1949, rather than risk the law being declared unconstitutional in light of the emerging civil rights movement .
What did Newton do after the war?
Newton continues to fight racial inequality after the war. He helps free Moses' son from an "apprenticeship" to Rachel's former master. After Moses is lynched while registering freedmen to vote, Newton is seen participating in a march of voters to the polls while they sing " John Brown's Body ".
What happened after the Siege of Vicksburg?
After the Siege of Vicksburg, more rebel soldiers desert. Most flee into the swamps, and Newton is elected as a captain to organize them against efforts to force them back into service. The ex-Confederates, runaway slaves, and farmers of Jones County start a revolt against the Confederacy.
What law did Newton Knight follow?
After surviving the 1862 Battle of Corinth and being told of the Twenty Negro Law that allows wealthy men to avoid being conscripted into military service, Newton Knight, a poor farmer from Jones County serving as a battlefield nurse in the Confederate army, deserts and returns home to his wife Serena after seeing his nephew Daniel get shot and killed. Upon returning home, he befriends Rachel, an enslaved woman who has secretly learned to read .
Is Newton Knight a savior?
The New Yorker film critic Richard Brody gave it a positive review, saying, "It's tempting to shunt Free State of Jones into the familiar genre of the white-savior tale, but Newton Knight appears as something else —not so much as a savior but as an avatar of a new South.
Where was Free State of Jones filmed?
For three days in March 2015, Bynum and her husband were visitors to the Covington, Louisiana, set of Free State of Jones, which is when she filmed her cameo appearance. “My husband is in there, too, but his scene got cut,” says Bynum, whose book on this curious historical episode was supported by an NEH research fellowship. “We loved watching the takes; we loved watching Matthew McConaughey. And, of course, we loved being in it, even though it was exhausting to be out on a set.”
Who directed the movie Free State of Jones?
Matthew McConaughey in Free State of Jones, directed by Gary Ross.
Who played Newton Knight in Free State of Jones?
The medic and later captain of the deserters is Newton Knight, played by Matthew McConaughey.
Was the movie Free State of Jones based on a book?
In the end, the film Free State of Jones was not based on the book The Free State of Jones, but the book was used as a major resource, with Bynum credited as a consultant. For a period, however, it seemed that Ross’s research—which involved reading 40 to 50 books, he says—would not result in a film. The project stalled as the 2000s drew to a close and Ross worked on other projects.
How did Hood die in Free State of Jones?
In Free State Of Jones, however, Hood is killed off during a dramatic funeral-turned-ambush when Knight strangles him in a completely fabricated scene. Free State Of Jones also took certain liberties when it came to portraying Knight’s family life.
Who played Newton Knight in Free State of Jones?
Written and directed by Gary Ross, Free State Of Jones stars Matthew McConaughey as Newton Knight – a Mississippi farmer who deserted the army and revolted against Confederate forces during the American Civil War.
What county did Davis Knight take over?
Together with fellow farmers and runaway slaves, Knight took over Jones County, Mississippi and declared it seceded from the Confederacy. Free State Of Jones follows Knight and his fellow rebels through the Civil War to the Reconstruction era and is intercut with a more contemporary plot from the 1940s that sees Knight’s great-grandson Davis Knight ...
Is Free State of Jones true?
Despite the film’s real-life basis and its director’s extensive research, Free State Of Jones isn’t entirely historically accurate. One major deviation from reality the movie made was in its inclusion of fictional characters. Knight’s nephew Daniel (Jacob Lofland) who died in battle during the opening scenes is a fictional composite character, ...
Who played Newton Knight in Free State of Jones?
The Free State of Jones book author Victoria E. Bynum said that Daniel (Jacob Lofland), the character Newton Knight (Matthew McConaughey) tries to protect in battle, is at best a composite of various 7th Battalion men who were killed at the Battle of Corinth. Like in the movie, the battle and its casualties deepened the disillusionment ...
Who plays Rachel in Free State of Jones?
Gugu Mbatha-Raw (right) portrays Rachel in the Free State of Jones movie. Did Newton Knight and his fighters really stage a surprise attack outside a church? Yes. According to author Victoria E. Bynum, an ambush appears in several accounts of the Free State of Jones story passed on by family members.
Why did Newton Knight kill Amos McLemore?
Like in the film, Knight's reason for killing McLemore was to stop him from leading efforts to round up local deserters for execution. Amos McLemore's death is known as being the opening shot that sparked the insurrection against the Confederacy, spearheaded by Mississippi Unionists and Confederate deserters. -Renegade South
What happened in 1861?
When the American Civil War began in April 1861, anyone who opposed the state's new Confederate government was deemed a traitor and a coward. Immediate death was often the penalty for those who refused to join the Confederate Army. The Free State of Jones true story reveals that Newton Knight enlisted in the army in the early fall of 1861.
How did Newton Knight die?
Much of his time was spent doting on the growing number of children and grandchildren who surrounded him. It has been said that he died of a heart attack in February 1922 while dancing on the porch of his grandaughter's cabin. Per his instructions, he was buried next to Rachel who had passed away in 1889; thus defying the law at the time that said whites and blacks could not be buried in the same cemetery. -Smithsonian.com
What did the Knight Company do in 1864?
In the spring of 1864, the Knight Company declared loyalty to the Union and overthrew the Confederate authorities in Jones County, Mississippi. In the process, they crippled the "tax in kind" system of the Confederacy and redistributed Confederate supplies. They also vowed to defend each other's farms and homes.
Who killed Amos McLemore?
Actor Thomas Francis Murphy (left) as Colonel Amos McLemore, who is believed to have been murdered by Newton Knight and two accomplices in the home of Confederate Rep. Amos Deason (actual home pictured).
When was the Free State of Jones?
Victoria Bynum: For many years, the term “Free State of Jones” has been used to designate the Jones County uprising against the Confederacy that took place in Mississippi between 1863 until 1865. It refers particularly to the period from between February-April 1864, when Knight Company deserters were described as having taken over Jones County, leaving it “free” of civil (Confederate) government.
What did Newt Knight say about the Union?
In his 1895 deposition to Congress in support of his compensation claim, Newt Knight claimed that he opposed secession before the war and that he voted for his county’s anti-secession delegate. In a 1921 interview with Meigs Frost of the New Orleans Item, Newt reiterated that he supported the Union before the war began. A reluctant soldier according to his testimony, he cited passage of the Twenty-Negro Law as convincing him to desert once and for all this “rich man’s war and poor man’s fight.”
What did Newt Knight think of slavery?
He did not include himself as one who participated in the Underground Railroad, but in hindsight wished that nonslaveholding farmers had risen up and killed the slaveholders rather than be “tricked” into fighting their war.
Who was the governor of Mississippi in 1872?
On July 6, 1872, under the administration of Republican Governor Adelbert Ames, Newt was appointed deputy U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of Mississippi. On March 18, 1875, Gov. Ames appointed him Colonel of the 1st [Colored] Regiment Infantry of Jasper County. Newt’s last documented political appointment was in 1884 as a supervisor of elections for Albritton’s precinct, Jasper County, MS.
Who was the officer who feared deserters?
Robert Lowry in mid-April 1864, during which many Knight Company men fled to the Union in New Orleans after other band members were executed or forced back into the Confederate Army, deserters were still feared by Jones County officials. In June, 1864, Ellisville enrolling officer B. C. Duckworth described them to Gov. Clark as “thinned out,” thanks to the Confederate raid, but also stated that “We have not had a Justice Court Since the war commenced and if a man is found dead, the civil authorities pays no attention to it any more than if it was a dog.” Duckworth’s continued fear of deserters was expressed in his final sentence:
Who was the soldier who fought for the Free State of Jones?
Though the occasion was a momentous one, getting to it hadn’t been easy. Newton Knight and his unlikely cavalry had been fighting for the Free State of Jones ever since Knight was a child, raised to oppose the Confederacy and all that it stood for.
Who did Newton Knight free?
Newton Knight returned home and took up a job freeing black children from white masters who were refusing to emancipate them. He further stirred the pot when, rather than move back in with his wife, he took up residence with one of his grandfather’s former slaves, Rachel.
What did the able-bodied do to help Newton Knight?
Those who were able-bodied spent their time evading Confederate soldiers, helping others avoid capture, and attempting to break through Confederate lines to join the Union army. Those who couldn’t fight contributed to Newton Knight’s efforts in other ways, serving as lookouts, cooking, cleaning, and tending to their wounded.
Who wrote the letter to the Secretary of War claiming that the country is entirely at their mercy?
By the time Knight’s Company took Ellisville, Confederate Captain Wirt Thomson had written a letter to their Secretary of War claiming that “the country is entirely at their mercy.”
Is Jones County a swampy area?
Today, the Free State of Jones is back to being known as Jones County. It is a swampy , rural area, dotted with churches and blue-collar establishments. Though it was once the site of the most revolutionary Civil War rebellion, its residents now favor a more conservative approach.
Did the Confederates back down from Jones County?
The Confederates backed down from Jones County, and eventually backed down altogether. Knight’s Company disbanded, and the soldiers returned to their respective farms, attempting to rebuild what had been lost during the war.
Was Newton Knight a traitor?
The older generations still think of Newton Knight as a traitor, more so for the fact that he married a black woman than the fact that he betrayed the Confederacy, though they’d never admit it. To an outsider, the town looks like any other southern town, proud of their Confederate heritage and still wary of liberalism.
Overview
Free State of Jones is a 2016 American historical war film inspired by the life of Newton Knight and his armed revolt against the Confederacy in Jones County, Mississippi, throughout the American Civil War. Written and directed by Gary Ross, the film stars Matthew McConaughey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Mahershala Ali, and Keri Russell.
Premise
The story is based on the history of Jones County, Mississippi, during the Civil War and the period immediately after it. The overall story follows the history of Jones County; some of the events portrayed are true. The film is credited as being "based on the books The Free State of Jones by Victoria E. Bynum and The State of Jones by Sally Jenkins and John Stauffer."
Plot
After surviving the second Battle of Corinth and being told of the Twenty Negro Law that allows wealthy men to avoid being conscripted into military service, Newton Knight, a battlefield medic in the Confederate army, deserts after his nephew Daniel is forced into military service, only to be mortally wounded and then denied medical care while the officers are tended to first. Upon returning home, Knight buries Daniel and reconnects with his wife, Serena. He befriends Rachel, …
Cast
• Matthew McConaughey as Newton Knight
• Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Rachel
• Mahershala Ali as Moses Washington
• Keri Russell as Serena Knight
Production
The film was a passion project for Ross, who spent ten years developing it. He was initially drawn to make the movie out of a desire to examine the Reconstruction era south, an era that, according to him, is poorly represented in film, quoting Gone with the Wind and The Birth of a Nation as examples of "the last movies that did it". In preparation, Ross did a "tremendous amount of research", studying not only the Civil War but also the historiography of the war, the latter becaus…
Release
The film was pushed back from its original release date of March 11, 2016, to May 13 and finally June 24, 2016. The first trailer was released on January 9, 2016.
Reception
Free State of Jones grossed $20.8 million in North America and $4.2 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $25 million, against a production budget of $50 million.
The film was released in the United States and Canada on June 24, 2016, alongside Independence Day: Resurgence and The Shallows and was projected to gross around $10 million in its opening weekend from 2,815 theaters. The film grossed $365,000 from its Thursday previews and $2.7 …
Soundtrack
• Beautiful Dreamer - Written by Stephen Foster
• Piney Woods Swamp - Performed by Nicholas Britell, Tim Fain, Shawn Conley & Shawn Pelton
• Napoleon Crossing the Rhine - Traditional
• What Must Be Done - Written by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis