Free State of Jones Page #5

what it is we gonna do next.

I want y'all to know

that y'all fought bravely.

That flag right there

tells the tale.

Right now what we do know

is that they're sendin'

a whole regiment

of cavalry this way.

That's 100 horses.

We can't fight that,

at least

not in the open anyhow.

And we was hopin' to get some

help from general sherman,

but it looks like

that ain't comin' either.

He says he won't

recognize us.

So it seems that we don't got

no country on either side.

And that's all right.

- I guess we're kind of our own country.

- That's right.

And if we're honest about it,

hadn't we been our own

country for a long time?

Yes, sir. Yeah.

Now, Jasper here,

he's obviously a lot

more learned than I am.

He was sayin' that,

if in fact we are

our own country,

well then, by god, we oughta

stand up and declare it.

Yeah. That's right.

Even if they push us

back in the swamps,

if we're willin' to

die for somethin',

we sure as the devil

oughta be able to say

what it is out loud.

- Yes.

- Yeah.

That's true.

Jasper, let me see

that paper there.

From this day forward,

we declare the land north

of the pascagoula swamps,

south of enterprise

and east of the Pearl river

to the Alabama border

to be a "free state of Jones."

Yeah. Right!

And as such we do

hereby proclaim

and affirm the

following principles.

Number one, no man

oughta stay poor

so another man can get rich.

- Right.

- Yeah.

Number two, no man

oughta tell another man

what he's gotta live for

or what he's gotta die for.

Yeah.

Number three,

what you put in the ground

is yours to tend and harvest,

and there ain't no man oughta be

able to take that away from you.

- Yeah, that's right.

- Yeah.

Number four...

...every man's a man.

If you can walk on two

legs, you're a man.

- Right.

- Yeah.

It's as simple as that.

Lord.

But we won.

I know.

And they said... general

sherman, he said...

I know what they said.

He said 40 acres

and a mule

for every freed man

and they families.

They took that back.

Who did?

The president did.

There's a new president

now named Johnson.

Johnson.

So who gets

all 0' this?

He does.

Eakins.

Eakins? Eakins?

He gets to come back?

Yeah, if he takes an oath.

What kind of oath?

Swearin' to be loyal

to the union.

He ain't no union man.

No.

Hell, I can take an oath swearin' to be

a canary. That don't mean I can fly.

That's it.

So I don't understand.

Are we free or we ain't free?

You understand.

We free and

we ain't free.

Place your left hand on the

Bible and raise your right.

"L, James eakins..."

I, James eakins...

"...do solemnly swear in the

presence of almighty god..."

...do solemnly swear in the

presence of almighty god...

Judge". "...That I will

henceforth faithfully support,

"protect, and defend

"the constitution

of the United States..."

...that I will henceforth

faithfully support,

protect, and defend

the constitution

of the United States...

"...and the union

of the states thereunder."

...and the union

of the states thereunder.

Judge". "So help me god."

So help me god.

Welcome back.

Thank you.

Hmm.

I ain't leavin'.

We got to.

You got to leave, too.

Why?

'Cause the winds is shiftin'.

Well, I don't care.

And you can't

fight it this time.

Where we gonna go?

Huh? Go where?

Soso.

Soso?

You sell this place,

we could buy all of soso.

Yeah? And grow what, huh?

Can't get nothin' in

that ground up there.

You grew crops in a swamp.

Yeah.

I think you can coax

a little corn outta soso.

How far?

All the way through?

All the way.

"Man, can, pan,

"ran, fan."

Very good.

The second row,

c-o-b is...

"Cob.

"Job.

"Mob.

"Rob-ii

Chester.

I need some bailin' wire.

That's a cent a foot.

I'll take 60 feet.

Fixin' a fence?

Yeah. That's what

bailin' wire's for.

You up in soso, right?

Mmm-hmm.

Thought they was just

a bunch 0' n*ggers up there,

cap'n newt.

No, Chester.

Ain't no n*ggers

up there at all.

Got nowhere to go.

They said you was up here

now, makin' a new farm.

Yeah, lam.

I'm sorry. I just

don't know where to go.

Rebs burned my first farm.

Sherman burned my second.

Guess they agree on that.

Yeah, they do.

We walked all the way

from Birmingham.

He's seen things

nobody should see.

You stay here. Yeah.

I know y'all have

your own home now.

No. That's fine.

You stay here with us.

There's a little shack

on the other side of the farm.

We could fix it for you.

Y'all don't have to do that.

No, we do. You're kin.

Hey.

What you say

i teach ya how to fish?

Yeah?

You know I'm your pa?

Yeah, I know.

Here. Got somethin' for ya.

Look at that. That's

yours now, all right?

Take good care 0' that.

Oh, let's not start

cryin' now, huh?

Ain't that

bad of a house.

So come on inside. Come on.

The prosecution

would lead you to believe

that when Serena knight

left Jones county

in the middle of the war,

she never came back.

Their entire case

hinges on the idea

that if newt knight had

a second child after the war,

that child had to be

with Rachel knight.

But there's a problem with

that, ladies and gentlemen,

because as these census

records clearly indicate,

Serena knight came home

to soso in 1865.

Two women livin' on one

farm at the same time.

Now normally,

in a court of law,

we have trouble provin'

who the father is,

but in this strange,

strange case,

we have trouble

provin' the mother.

Time has a way

of changin' things.

Mr. newt!

Mr. newt!

Mr. newt!

Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!

Hey, hey! What? What? He gone!

He gone. He gone down there!

Who?

He got a gun!

Who?

Moses?

They took him.

They took our boy.

Who did? Bunch of

men from eakins.

First thing

this mornin'.

So he got a gun.

Moses!

Stay back now!

Moses, stop, stop, y'hear?

You gonna get killed.

It ain't you.

It ain't your fight.

I'm goin' with you.

You his daddy now?

Sir.

Huh?

I'm his daddy. It's my boy.

It's your boy.

I'm goin' with you, Moses.

This is all the help

i need right here.

I'm goin' with you.

They'll arrest me.

They'll kill you.

Can't nobody own my boy now!

Yes, sir, it's your boy.

I'm tired!

Yes, sir.

Let's go get him.

You and me. Come on now.

That's what we're gonna do.

That's my boy.

They'll arrest me.

They'll kill you.

Isaac, don't worry,

it's me. Your uncle newt.

Let's see. I'm gonna

take you outta here, boy.

Right now?

Yeah, right now.

Come on.

Here we go.

Hold it!

Where you goin'

with that boy?

I'm takin' him home.

We have papers on that boy.

"Papers"?

"That the defendant,

Newton knight,

"did on November 14th, 1865,

"intervene and interfere

in the lawful apprenticeship

"of a negro child in violation

of Mississippi law."

A what? Apprenticeship?

What is a lawful

apprenticeship, lieutenant?

To quote the statute

on apprenticeship...

"Lf any apprentice

shall leave the employment

"of his or her master

without consent,

"said master may pursue

and recapture the apprentice

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