Freedom Road (1979) - full transcript
Muhammad Ali, in a rare acting role, plays Gideon Jackson, an ex-slave in 1870's Virginia who gets elected to the U.S. Senate in Washington D.C. and battles other former slaves and white sharecroppers to keep the land they tended all their lives.
(fire crackling)
(distant guns firing)
(wind whistling)
(horse whinnying)
(Gideon coughs)
- Men, I have been ordered
to read something to you.
- I hope that means we
get some more blankets.
- Damned if I know
what it means, Trooper.
All I know is the
president has issued
some sort of emancipation
proclamation,
whatever that is.
- Emanci what?
- If the major don't know
what it is, how I know?
He don't know.
They're tired.
I'll read it to
'em in the morning.
- Yes, sir.
(somber music)
That on the first
day of January,
in the year of our Lord 1863,
all persons held as
slaves within any state
or designated part of a state,
are and henceforward
shall be free.
And that the
executive government
of the United States,
(uplifting music)
including the military and
naval authorities thereof,
will recognize and maintain
the freedom of said persons.
And upon this act,
sincerely believed to be
an act of justice, warranted
by the Constitution,
I invoke the considerate
judgment of mankind,
and the gracious
favor of Almighty God.
Signed, Abraham Lincoln.
(dramatic music)
(moving to somber music)
(rooster crowing)
(dog barking)
- Gideon, Gideon, Gideon,
the sheriff is coming!
He's right here.
Gideon!
- Too.
- Been huntin', Gideon?
- When you talk to my papa,
you call him Mr. Jackson.
- Marcus.
What is it, Sheriff?
- Come out here on a
small matter of business.
(wagon clattering)
(horse hooves clomping)
(horse whinnying)
- Take your finger off
that trigger, Hugar.
Both of you put them
guns down at your feet.
Now.
(rifle clicking)
- Do as he says.
(chickens clucking)
- Now, what's this business
you gotta talk about, Sheriff?
- Remember that big
auction years ago
when you bought this here land?
Seems you bought it illegally.
The taxes was paid.
Dudley Carwell still
owns this land.
- Is that the best you can do
to get us off of this land?
- I got a court order here--
- And I bet you've
got forged tax papers
to go right along with
your real court order.
- These tax papers
and this court order
are legal and binding.
- You can take 'em.
I didn't learn to
read to read lies.
- What about the
houses we built?
- And the money we
paid for this land?
- You got a week to get off.
- What about when
your week comes around
and we're still here?
- Listen, ain't no
niggers and trash
gonna scare me none.
I'll deputize every man in
this county if I have to.
- You'll have to and then some.
- You asking for bad trouble.
- No, you bringin' trouble.
- Any time a nigger
gets too high,
just naturally makes trouble.
- You use that word nigger
again, that'll be the last word
you'll ever say.
And get off this land.
Now!
(tense music)
- Get up, come on here.
- Pa, maybe you shouldn't
have spoken to him that way.
- Son, there's no other
way he would have listened.
- Nah, this was coming, Jeff.
Nothing nobody says
is gonna change it.
- [Peter] Morning.
- Morning.
- Gonna talk, Gideon?
- There's no need
for me to talk.
Everybody here
knows what happened.
- Well, what are we gonna do?
- Well, you figure it out.
I say they're not
gonna wait a week.
- Ain't there's a chance
that they's bluffing, Gideon?
- Bluffing?
Do you really think
that they think
that they can bluff
us out of our land,
out of the homes that
we lived and fought
and died for years?
Do you really believe that?
- I reckon no.
- All right, they're gonna come.
I'm still asking the
same damn question.
What do we do?
- We can run away,
hide somewheres.
The Negroes we can find 'em
a plantation to hide on,
you get a little work,
earn 'em a little grits,
little fat back, place to sleep.
They can live that way
as long as they keep
their mouths shut.
- What about us white folks?
- Ain't no different
for us, Frank.
Maybe y'all wanna go back
to working for somebody else
all your life, but I'll
be damned if I will.
- If we stay at our homes,
we'll all be killed.
- If we all stay
together, we can fight.
- There is still the law.
And there are still courts.
My God, do we have
to destroy ourselves?
- We're living in bad times
and the law is in the hands of
those who came their houses.
And the court's on their side.
You understand, son?
- Well, there must
be some other way.
- What other way?
- Suppose we reckon to fight.
I like standin' up
for what's mine.
That's a good way to
be as I see things.
But how?
We're not an army.
- I know a place
where we can all be.
It's easy to defend and
commands the whole countryside.
I mean the Carwell mansion.
We can probably hold
out there long enough
until this all gets out.
Then the government will
send the troops back
and they can stay
with us and help us
until we're able to
protect ourselves.
Now, I've said my piece,
decide for yourselves.
(somber music)
- Brethrens, we're here today
in fear and anger.
God help us to
choose the right way.
(dramatic music)
- We'll fight.
- We're going to the
Carwell house like you said.
- Abner, you take
care of the guns.
Hannibal, you spread the word.
Tell Brother Peter keep the
women and children calm.
Meet you at the
mansion at sundown.
Bring all the water
and food you can.
Quick.
- [Trooper] Gideon.
- Yeah, Trooper?
- I ain't leavin' my place.
- Why?
- Me and my wife we
break our damn backs
turnin' over that dirt.
I'm stayin'.
Ain't nobody gonna move
me outta my place, Gideon,
not even you.
- I understand you, Trooper.
Do what you want.
But if you ever change your
mind, you know where we'll be.
(dramatic music)
- Cary, be careful, eh.
- [Marion] Louise.
- [Louise] Lord, Marion I stay--
- Louise, it's
gonna be all right.
Here you are, here boy, take it.
- Watch your leg, Mom.
(horse whinnying)
(moving to dramatic music)
- You ready, Ellen?
Don't worry, I got you.
(people chattering)
- Open it.
(child crying)
(dramatic music)
Rachel, you and Louise
set the kitchen in here.
I want the guns and
ammunition stored in here.
(tense music)
We'll place the wagons here
and make this our
first line of defense.
Get boards, whatever you
can and barricade the porch.
They'll be coming
from that direction.
- Gideon, we could get the
old bell from the schoolhouse,
bring it up here and use
it as a warning bell.
- Good, then do it and put
guards around the porch.
(gentle music)
I want the best shots up here.
I want a guard here,
guard in the middle,
and two on the end.
(tense music)
Brother Peter, we'll put
the children in here.
The women folks here.
- That's fine.
- I want two guards
downstairs and two upstairs.
- Mom, Mom, they're back!
(upbeat music)
Mom, they're back!
Mom, they're back!
(dog barking)
(people shouting)
- Please, please, a
little peace and quiet.
And we'll give out answers
to all them questions.
This votin' here's like a
wedding or a Christmas sermon.
- Amen.
- It's for all of us.
The government put out
it's strong right arm
and said vote for or
against this Constitution
and we did.
- [People In Crowd] Mmm hmm.
- [Peter] The government says
again, choose our delegates.
- Sure 'nuff.
- [Peter] And we did that too.
We choose our Gideon.
- [Woman] What a delegate?
- You all knows we ask Gideon
about plantin' and such,
so it just seemed
natural to choose him out
to be our delegate.
- That's right.
- [Rachel] Why they choose you?
- I don't know.
- Where you goin'?
- Charleston.
- When you gonna leave?
- I guess tomorrow.
- Tomorrow?
(children shouting)
How long you gonna be gone?
- I don't know.
- Every time you go
away, I get scared
you ain't comin' back.
- Come on now, don't cry.
It's hallelujah time.
It's hallelujah time.
(insects and birds chirping)
(somber music)
- What you been thinking?
- Rachel, I'm scared.
- Why you scared?
- 'Cause I'm just a
ignorant colored man.
Can't read, can't
write but my name.
And tomorrow I goes to
Charleston a delegate man.
- Well, why didn't you say
no when they picked you out?
- 'Cause, Rachel, we done voted
and they choose me.
Do you know what that mean?
We done voted.
- Come on now, it's
gonna be all right.
Dis hallelujah
time, honey child.
♪ I gonna lay down my burden
♪ Way down
♪ Down by the riverside
♪ Way down
♪ Down by the riverside
♪ Way down
♪ Down by the riverside
♪ I'm gonna lay down my burden
♪ Way down
♪ Down by the riverside
♪ Study war no more
♪ Oh I ain't gonna
study war no more ♪
♪ I ain't gonna
study war no more ♪
♪ Ain't gonna
study war no more ♪
(emotional music)
- I'll see ya.
Come on now, son,
you gotta go back.
Mornin', Mr. Lait.
- How come you all trussed
up like a turkey, Gideon?
- I'm off to Charleston
to a convention.
- Convention?
What the hell you gonna
do at a convention?
- I gotta choose our new votin'.
(birds chirping)
- A nigger at a
convention at Charleston?
I reckon they'll
damn well lynch you
before you open
your mouth, Gideon.
- Well, maybe so, but I
got government papers,
government papers right
here in my pocket.
Hey, didn't I see
you at the votin'?
- I been.
But I don't vote for no nigger.
- How's your crops, Mr. Lait?
- Fills our bellies.
We got more than we had when I
was old man Carwell's tenant.
It just come to me, Gideon.
Lookin' at you, it just come
to me why we lost the war.
- [Gideon] How's that?
- I reckon it had
to be bad shootin'.
Big old black target like you,
couldn't nobody
put a hole in ya.
- Their shootin' was fine.
Trouble was, they was too slow.
By the time they got
me in their sights,
I'd already put a hole in first.
Bye, I gotta keep walkin'.
Got a long ways to go.
- Where you walkin' to?
- Charleston, ma'am, Charleston.
- [Abner] That ain't
none of your business.
- Bye, Mr. Lait.
(lighthearted music)
(people chattering)
- [Soldier] Are you a delegate?
- Yes, sir.
- [Soldier] May I have
your credentials please?
- [Soldier] Gideon
Jackson, Carwell-Sinkerton?
- That's right.
- Do you understand your
duties as a delegate
to this convention?
- I think so.
- Do you understand the
significance of this convention?
- What?
- Do you understand the
significance of this convention?
- Sir, I don't know if I
know what significant mean.
- There's more instructions
a little later on.
- Thank you.
(people chattering)
- Excuse me, Major, what
was that gentleman's name?
- Gideon Jackson from
Carwell-Sinkerton.
- Thank you.
(horse whinnying)
- Oh, uh, Mr. Jackson.
- Yes, sir.
- I'm Francis L. Cardozo,
free Negro and delegate
from the district of Charleston.
- Thank you, glad to meet you.
- Do you have a place to stay?
- Sir, I'm so happy
about being here,
I never thought about it.
- (chuckles) Yes, I understand.
I have a friend, Mrs.
Carter, who will board you.
- Sir, I ain't got no money.
- The delegates will be paid.
- Sorry, sir, but I can't read.
- This note is for Mrs.
Carter, just to let her know
I've sent you.
There you are.
- Well, thank you.
I really appreciate it.
- Well come, I have a carriage.
I'll be glad to drop you off.
- Thank you.
- Now, Mr. Jackson,
this is our spare room.
We hope you're gonna find
it comfortable, enjoyable.
We're certainly going to
enjoy having you here with us.
- Am I the only one
supposed to be here?
- Oh yes, it's your room.
We eat at seven.
- Well, Mr. Cardozo's gonna
pick me up about 6:30.
- Then you better
give me your jacket
and let me press it for you.
If you're gonna have
dinner with the Cardozos,
you want to look your best.
(somber music)
(water splashing)
- Not those books, Gideon.
If you wish to learn, these are
the books that can help you.
(clock ticking)
They're easy.
They'll get you started.
(clock chiming)
- Come, Nat.
See the
big man
with his
black hat.
The delegate.
The delegate.
- You cannot force education
on a whole population
of illiterates!
- Why?
- The whites won't go to
school with the coloreds.
- If I can sit in this
convention with niggers,
my son can sit in a
schoolroom with 'em.
- This is insanity.
There has never been such a
war before in this country!
- Then we will begin!
We must begin somewhere!
- It won't work!
- We can try!
(delegates applauding
and cheering)
- [Man] Maybe shorten these
sleeves up a little bit.
- Gideon, doesn't all
this freedom business
seem like a dream?
- Ain't no dream, ma'am.
I fought for it.
- I've got something for you.
A new suit deserves a new hat.
- I didn't ask for this.
It costs too much.
- Oh, it's my gift to ya.
Come see how you look.
Now you're a real delegate.
- Not yet.
Shoulders need to
be a little wider.
- [Man] What about the land?
- [Men] Right, right.
- Uncle, why don't
you open your eyes?
You're a nigger and
I'm white trash.
We got schools out of
this here convention
but we ain't gonna get no land.
If we want land, we're
gonna have to work and sweat
and pay for it.
- Ain't we worked this
land maybe a hundred years?
Ain't we put in the
crop and take it out?
Who got a better right to land?
- Well, it ain't a
question of rights,
it's a question of property.
- I paid for property.
The price is right
here on my back.
I paid!
I say we get land!
- And I say to you
that the proposed law
to give away land is so
reckless that if it is passed,
it will haunt everyone
who votes for it
as well as those of
future generations
of the people of South Carolina.
(crowd applauding and cheering)
(crowd members booing)
(gavel thudding)
- The Chair recognizes...
- Gideon Jackson from
Carwell-Sinkerton.
Can't read much, I
can't write much.
I'm just a simple man.
Come out the cotton fields,
come all the way
to this convention
lookin' for a few things.
We all want the learnin' and
we seem to be gettin' that.
(crowd applauding)
But we want our freedom.
- [Crowd] Freedom!
- Our freedom insures
a iron fence post.
(crowd cheering and applauding)
Sir, that can only come
by having our own lands.
(crowd cheering and applauding)
- [Crowd Member] No, no, no!
- Now, sure I speak for
all the Negroes here.
That just want a little
farm, a few acres of land
where they can put in
and plant and take out
their own crops and feed
themselves and their families.
That's all they want.
(crowd cheering and applauding)
(gavel thudding)
(horse whinnying)
- Mr. Jackson.
- [Gideon] Yes, sir.
- My name is Stephen Holms
and you were quite
eloquent this afternoon.
- Well, not good enough
to carry the motion.
- Well, I'm not sure
that any argument
could overcome the prejudice
that most people have
about the sanctity
of private property.
I would like very much for you
to come to my home for dinner.
- Why me?
- I would like my
friends to meet you
and I would like you
to meet my friends.
- But why?
- Well, Mr. Jackson, I am a
gentleman of the old order
and there are great
changes in the wind.
Startling new ideas are abroad
which I am trying very
hard to understand.
Now that the convention
is nearly over
men like you will be going home
and I think it would
be a great pity
if my friends did not
have the opportunity
to exchange these
new ideas with you.
- How come you never
asked me until tonight?
- I didn't know you
could speak until today.
Today's the first time
you spoke, isn't it?
- (chuckles) I ain't never
heard you speak either.
- (chuckles) I'm a
listener, Mr. Jackson.
Someone has to just listen.
Now, what about dinner?
- When?
- Shall we say tomorrow night?
- That'll be fine.
- How do you find
lawmaking, Jackson, amusing?
- Well, it's more rewarding
than picking cotton, General.
- What do they pay you?
- $3 a day.
- What on Earth could a
Negro do with all that money?
- Just go in town, act like
savages, spend it, get drunk,
just like the newspapers say.
- We were always very kind
to our colored folk, Gideon.
- I understand you were one
of Mr. Carwell's field hands
until just a few years ago.
- I was, sir.
Fact is, I got a mark
of distinction there.
- A mark of distinction?
How interesting.
- Yes, ma'am.
I earned over 100 stripes there
but I didn't wear them on
my sleeves like the general.
I wore them on my back!
- I understand that the nigger
takes his master's
name, Mr. Jackson.
You were owned by
Mr. Carwell here.
- When I joined the army,
Yankee captain tells me,
"You could have a family name.
"Who owns you?"
I say to him, nobody owns me.
A man may have me in chains,
but he ain't never owned me.
- Get out of here
you black swine!
- This is my house, Dudley.
You forget yourself.
- I forget nothing, Holms.
You get this black ape
out of here or I'll,
I'll kill him with my two hands.
- No sir, you don't have
the hands to do the job.
- [Dudley] Why did you invite
that nigger here tonight?
- Because he was
your slave, Dudley.
Three years ago
he was illiterate.
Well, did you watch him tonight?
Did he act like a slave?
Or did he act like
a baboon, a savage
as our newspapers have it?
Surely you don't believe
what they're telling you
about the convention.
I was there and I'm telling
you they did it very cleverly.
In every new measure, they
put black and white together.
On the vote, on freehold
of land, in education.
Well, now where is
our legal recourse?
Do you think that men
like Gideon Jackson
will give up what they
have gained easily?
Gentlemen, when you handed
the convention over to niggers
and white trash, you committed
the second greatest blunder
of our lifetime.
The first was the war!
- You don't have a very
high opinion of us.
- Well frankly I don't.
- They are still
niggers and white trash.
- Don't you realize that in
one generation of education
for those niggers, everything
we stand for will be a memory.
Gentlemen, you take our way
of life very much for granted.
Don't you realize that it is
the sum total of 2000 years
of Western history?
Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, gone!
Philosophy, art, religion.
Our culture's
infinitely precious.
Its loss would be a catastrophe.
Well, who will pick our cotton?
Who will be our servants?
- Well, we can play their game.
- Oh can we?
And offer them what?
40 cents a day?
No freehold of land,
ignorance, a return to slavery?
That's quite a bargain.
Do you think Gideon
Jackson will accept?
- No, I don't think so.
But we can hang him.
- Yes, we can hang him.
But hangin' one nigger is
not going to put a stop
to this movement.
Terror can be very, very useful
but only with an end in view.
Otherwise, it's a waste of time.
It needs to be planned,
it needs to be organized.
(somber music)
It needs a destination.
Now, I think the Klan
here is our organization.
I am fully aware that
for the most part
it consists of scum, a
lot of credulous fools
scampering around in
the woods at night
with white napkins
on their heads.
But they can be useful
under the influence
of men of substance
like ourselves.
- How long do we wait?
- Two or three
years, possibly five.
But we will not be idle
in that time, gentlemen.
- When that time comes,
Stephen, the Ku Klux Klan
will be an army, I promise.
(gentle music)
(birds chirping)
(baby crying)
- Jeff?
- Yes.
- Jeff, how much longer
we gotta stay here?
- Not much longer, Ellen.
It's getting pretty
quiet outside.
- I'm afraid.
Jeff, I'm afraid.
- It's okay, everything's
gonna be all right.
(somber music)
- [Man] Henry.
- Thank you.
(rifles clacking)
(birds chirping)
(emotional music)
(gentle music)
I almost wish we had put
in a few acres of cotton.
- [Man] Be happy if I never
see a cotton ball brick again.
- [Man] It's a sour crop.
- No it's not.
It's the crop of this land.
It's a cash crop.
And that's what we need is cash.
- What for?
- 'Cause nothing's really ours.
Not this land we're walking
on, not even the shacks
we're living in.
Until now, nobody ask
what are we doin' here?
- Why anybody ask now?
- 'Cause come the
first election,
things are gonna be different.
Then we have to explain where
everything is coming from.
- Who's gonna put
us off our land?
- Whoever buys the purse.
Old man Carwell
lost it for taxes.
- Won't the government
buy it for us?
- I don't think so.
We have to buy it as our land.
- How we gonna get it?
- Get money and buy the land.
- That take a lot of money.
- Of course it'll
take a lot of money,
but if we all work
and stick together,
we can save our money, go to
the bank and borrow the rest.
- The railroad's putting a
causeway through the swamp.
Asking for men a dollar a day.
- Dollar a day?
- Mmm hmm, niggers and whites.
- If we get 20 men,
that's $20 a day.
- If they keep us
for six, eight weeks,
how much money that is?
- I don't know,
it's a lot of money,
but I'll figure it out.
$347.
But we got something wrong here.
- [Man] Okay.
♪ Well it sounds like, ah
♪ Sounds like thunder, ah
♪ Way down here, Lord, ah
♪ Way down here, ah
♪ And it sounds like, ah
♪ Sounds like thunder, ah
♪ And I hear my, ah
♪ Hammer call, ah
♪ Well it sounds like, ah
♪ Sounds like thunder, ah
♪ Way down here, Lord, ah
♪ Way down here, ah
- Good morning, Mr. Lait.
♪ And it sounds like, ah
(crickets chirping)
- Good evening, Mr. Lait.
I'd like to talk to you.
- What about?
- About the Carwell land.
- You and me ain't got
nothing to talk about, Gideon.
- But it's important.
- Look here, Gideon,
lotta people don't like
niggers and whites
workin' together.
And a lot of them don't like
y'all makin' a dollar a day.
(horse hooves clomping)
(men shouting)
(guns firing)
(dramatic music)
- Don't work with niggers.
We're gonna stab all you
Yankee nigger lovers.
- Them friends of yours?
- Friends of mine?
I got about as much use
for them as I got for you.
- They're trying to kill you.
I'm not trying to kill you.
(men shouting)
(guns firing)
- I guess we bring our
guns to work every day now.
- Don't worry, next time we'll
have the Union Army here.
(fire crackling)
♪ Well it sounds like, ah
♪ Sounds like thunder, ah
♪ Way down here, Lord, ah
♪ Way down here, ah
♪ And it sounds like, ah
♪ Sounds like thunder, ah
♪ Way down here, Lord, ah
♪ Way down here, ah
♪ Well it sounds like, ah
♪ Sounds like thunder, ah
♪ Way down here, Lord, ah
♪ Way down here, ah
♪ And it sounds like, ah
♪ Sounds like thunder, ah
♪ Way down here, Lord
(tree creaking)
- [Man] Fall out!
- Yah, yah!
(tree crashing)
- Come on, Will.
(tense music)
- [Man] Boys, take up there now.
- Watch his head.
- Hold his face up.
- [Man] Let's get him
out of the sun, huh.
(somber music)
- [Man] Get him?
- [Gideon] Mr. Lait.
(Abner panting)
Thank God!
I think he's gonna make it.
- Make your mark over here.
(insects chirping)
Sign or make your
mark right here.
Sign right here.
Seven weeks' work
comes to $49, Gideon.
I'm gonna build a spur
line over in Greenville.
I could use you and these men.
- Thank you, sir, but
we've got crops to tend.
- Well, if you change your mind,
there's always a job.
(men chattering)
Make your mark right here.
Sign or make your mark here.
Make your mark here.
- I like gettin' paid
for my work, Gideon.
- When a man's got
money, he can buy things.
I'm gonna buy
Louise a fine dress.
- The land come first, remember.
- But Gideon, we ain't
never even had no,
been in the store with
money that we worked for.
- The land come first.
Now, how many can put
their money with mine?
- Gideon's right.
We all agreed to buy land.
(coins clanking)
(tense music)
(moving to uplifting music)
- Know, while coming over
I noticed in the back
back there, you have a
mighty nice crop for one man,
crop you can be mighty,
mighty proud of.
But who owns the land
it's growin' on, Mr. Lait?
Think about it.
Who owns the land?
- Be damned if I know,
damned if I care.
Dudley Carwell owned it
once and he don't anymore
and you know that.
- But it's goin' now, every lot,
every acre for
taxes, it's goin'.
- All right, so it go.
- You know the whole Carwell
place will be sold at auction
sometime in October.
They're probably going thousand
acre lots, nothing smaller.
Then what you
gonna do, Mr. Lait?
- What the hell you
think I'm gonna do?
I'm gonna be sitting
here right where I am.
Ain't nobody and no
auction gonna run me off.
- It sounds good, but
it don't make sense.
The sheriff comes in,
lays the law down.
Then what you gonna
do, buck the law?
You don't stand a chance.
- Well, I don't need a
nigger to come tell me that.
- Well, how you feel
about us is your business,
but how you feel about this
land here is all our business.
A man without land is no
better than a damn slave.
I don't care if the slave's
a black man or a white man.
- And what do you want me for?
What'd I ever do for you?
I never even thanked
you for saving my life.
- Yeah, I know.
- Well then why?
- If you say yes, we can
get other white families
like the Carson brothers or
Will Boone and Jake Suttler.
- Maybe.
Maybe so.
(birds chirping)
How do you know they'll
sell you the land?
- Well, all the Yankee land
agents and already promising
it'll be a fair auction.
Gotta trust somebody sometime.
(mellow upbeat music)
- When you gonna start?
- Just as soon as I can
get you to come with me
to talk to the other
white families.
I'm glad you decided
to come with us
to go over the land with
them government tracing.
- Well, I think
that's the best idea
since the dividing's all going
to be done off this tracing.
You see your map is
no good for bidding.
- It's a fine thing you're
doing for us, Mr. Greene.
We're beholdin' to you for it.
- I told you Jack, see.
They goin' up that damn Yankee
land lawyer come to town.
They gonna bid on that land.
- Where'd they get the money?
- How the hell should I know?
They got it.
- Niggers buyin' land.
- Niggers and whites
buying it together.
(crickets chirping)
(horse hooves clomping)
(bird cawing)
(ominous music)
- What do you want?
- [Man In Hood] Good
evening, Lawyer Greene.
(Greene grunts)
(punches thudding)
(Greene grunting)
(horse hooves clomping)
(people chattering)
- Where are the soldiers?
I don't see any soldiers.
Where are the soldiers?
You promised me that the
soldiers would be here.
- I was told they would be here.
- Well, I'm not gonna
bid unless they're here.
I'm sorry, I'm not gonna
bid unless they're here.
(people chattering)
- Coming up, the Carwell
plantation, block number one.
250 acres of prime cotton land
and 1000 acres of pasture.
We'll start the bidding
off at 2.50 an acre.
Well, do I hear $3,
gimme three over here,
three, I got $3, gimme
three and a half.
Right here, three
and a half dollars,
there's three and a half.
Ladies and gentlemen,
don't pay any attention
to them Yankee soldiers.
We got some fine cotton
land here for sale.
Now, when the bidding's start
with it at three and a half,
now who'll gimme 3.60?
There's 3.60, gimme 3.75.
Three, 3.75.
Got 3.75, now who'll gimme 3.80?
Do I hear 3.80?
Hup, 3.80, gimme 3.90.
Do we have $3 up to 3.90,
gimme four, do I hear four.
Do I hear four, there,
even four and a quarter.
- I don't understand.
- Hup, here four and a quarter.
Who to here four and a
quarter, gimme four and a half,
here four and a quarter,
gimme four and a half.
At four and a half,
four and a half.
Here four and a
half, gimme 4.75,
four and a half, gimme 4.75.
Here four and a
half, gimme 4.75,
four and a half, gimme 4.75.
Goin' once, goin'
twice, sold to the man
for $4.50 an acre.
(men chattering)
- I don't know.
- [Auctioneer]
Carwell, block two.
- [Abner] Did you get it?
- Let's get the hell outta here.
- [Abner] What happened?
- We got it.
- Two of them A1s.
- Sycamores?
- The flat?
- Right, and the
number four alternates.
(wind whistling)
- My granddaddy must've
seen the land this way once.
- We came into this land
whither thou sentest us.
And surely if flowed
with milk and honey.
And this is the fruit of it.
- Amen.
(lively music)
(people shouting)
- Come dance with me, Gideon,
it's a hallelujah time!
- Hey, Gideon!
I'm dancing on my own land!
♪ Green grow the lilacs
♪ All wet with dew
♪ How lonesome, my darling
♪ Since leavin' you
♪ Old time religion
♪ Gimme that old time religion
♪ Gimme that old time religion
♪ It's good enough for me
♪ It was good for
the Hebrew children ♪
♪ It was good for
the Hebrew children ♪
♪ It was good for
the Hebrew children ♪
♪ It's good enough for me
♪ Ah gimme that
old time religion ♪
♪ Say it again
♪ Gimme that old time religion
♪ Gimme that old time religion
♪ It's good enough for me
- Gideon!
♪ Gimme that old
(fire crackling)
(tense music)
(dramatic music)
(gentle music)
- Come and look at it, come on.
- Look, Jonathan.
Have to be careful.
How'd I say?
Ain't that something?
That's up to your I'm sure.
Now, you see that?
Look at it.
That's called a chandelier, huh?
(dog whimpering and barking)
(dog barking)
- Trooper.
- What, you hear somethin'?
- I don't know.
The dog keep barkin'.
(dog whimpering)
We shoulda stayed
with Gideon and them.
- We ain't leavin'.
- Trooper, I ain't never
afore gone against you,
but me and them girls is going
to where Rachel and them is.
- Stay here with the children.
(dog whimpering and panting)
(crickets chirping)
(ominous music)
(horse hooves clomping)
(moving to dramatic music)
- [Hugar] Put the
damn gun down, nigger.
- You're on my land, Hugar.
You dirty white trash,
get off my land!
(dog growling)
(dog screeches)
(guns firing)
(man shouts)
(Trooper shouts)
- Papa!
(gun firing)
(men whooping)
(woman and children screaming)
(gun firing)
(moving to dramatic music)
(fire crackling)
(horse hooves clomping)
- My God!
Gideon!
- [Gideon] Trooper's house.
- His two kids.
- Wait, stop!
It's too late to help 'em.
Only chance we've got is
staying here together.
Hannibal, you go down
and see what happened.
(dramatic music)
(fire crackling)
- This'll warm you up.
- Thank you.
(dogs barking)
- Looks like your place, Abner.
(crickets chirping)
- They gonna burn us to
the ground, all of us.
And we ain't seen
the worst of it.
(footsteps clacking)
- They killed 'em, all of 'em.
(somber music)
(Rachel cries)
- I will lift up mine
eyes unto the hills
from whence cometh my help.
You help cometh from the Lord
which made heaven and Earth.
You will not suffer
thou foot to be moved.
The Lord is thy keeper.
The Lord is thy shade
upon thy right hand.
(people shouting)
- Come dance with me, Gideon,
it's a hallelujah time.
Whoo yeah!
Come on dance.
(screams)
Hey, Gideon, I'm
dancin' on my own land!
(horse snorting)
(bird cawing)
- Saw something move
down by the barn.
(tense music)
Lynchers!
Go tell Gideon!
(bell ringing)
- Gideon, Gideon, lynchers
be down by the barn.
(somber music)
- It looks like Bentley.
- Hello there, Jackson.
Can we talk?
- Talk.
- Let's talk sense
plain and simple.
Now, there ain't no need
to start a war, Gideon.
All you gotta do is
just get off the land.
- Is that what you told Trooper
and his family last night?
- It was an accident.
The boys lost their heads.
- And I guess burnin'
all the houses
was an accident, too, huh?
- These ain't your houses
and this ain't your land.
- This is a waste of time.
Why don't we shoot
that son-of-a-bitch?
- I'll remember that, Lait.
What do you say, Gideon?
- I say that we hold you
responsible for the slaughter
of Trooper and his family.
I say that we hold you
responsible for the burning
of our homes.
Wait, I'm not finished.
You go back and tell your gang
that if they come
within rifle range
of this house, they're dead.
Tell that to your boys.
- Then old Pharaoh
changed his mind again.
Then the Lord said,
Moses, he said tell Aaron
to put his rod into the dust.
And the dust turned into lice
and the lice got into the beast
then into the house
of the Egyptians.
Pharaoh laughed and he
told magicians, he said,
I want you to do the same thing.
Now, you remember what
I told you before.
The magicians was doin'
everything that Moses was doin'.
So the magicians tried.
And they tried and
couldn't do it.
Moses went on down
there the next mornin'
and he told the Pharaoh
to let my people go.
Pharaoh said no.
(bell ringing)
(horse hooves clomping)
(men shouting)
- Hold your fire.
- Hold your fire!
- Hold your fire!
(rifles clacking)
- Fire!
(guns firing)
- Stanley, hold your fire.
- [Stanley] Hold your fire!
- [Man] Charge!
(men shouting)
- Hannibal fire!
- Fire!
(guns firing)
(men shouting)
- [Man] Get down, Annie.
- Stay down, we're
gonna be all right.
- Fire!
(guns firing)
(men screaming)
(glass shattering)
(baby crying)
(child screaming)
(men shouting)
(dramatic music)
(glass shattering)
- Jeff!
- Marion!
- Louise!
- Oh, Marion (cries).
No, no, no, no!
(guns firing)
- Jeff!
- Help.
Help.
Help, help!
- Jeff, leave him be!
(men grunting)
Come back, no, Jeff, no!
- Jeff, get back here!
Jeff, come back!
Don't be a fool, son.
- Let him lay there.
(gun firing)
- The Lord giveth, the
good Lord taketh away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
(sad music)
The Lord is my shepherd
and I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down
in the green pastures.
He leadeth me by
the still waters.
He restoreth my soul.
He leadeth me in the
path of righteousness
for His name's sake.
Yea, though I walk
through the valley
of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil
for Thou art with me.
Thy rod and Thy staff,
they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table 'fore me
in the presence of mine enemies.
Thou anointest my head with oil.
My cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and
mercy shall follow me
all the days of my
life and I shall dwell
in the house of
the Lord forever.
Amen.
(Ellen cries)
(somber music)
- Rachel, Rachel!
What are you gonna do?
- (cries) I ain't
gonna pray no more.
And I ain't gonna cry no more.
I'm gonna fight back!
- Fight who?
- Them!
Them that killed my Jeff.
- Now, come on.
Just come on back here with me.
Come on.
Just come on back, come on.
- All I know is
that Jeff is dead.
That's all I know.
(emotional music)
- Jeff did what he had to.
He died a doctor doing
what he believed in.
Set down.
- What's gonna happen to us?
All the things we believe in?
- Regardless to
what happens to us,
I want you to know that
I've always loved you.
(wind whistling)
- Children now, when
you get your breakfast,
I want you to go
inside and wait for me
and then I'll say the grace.
All right, John.
Mornin'.
- [Woman] Mornin',
Brother Peter.
- Now, you children
have patience outside.
There's enough
breakfast for everybody.
- Good luck today.
- [Man] Shotgun.
- How do you feel?
- [Man] All right.
(birds chirping)
(baby crying)
- [Rachel] Ellen, why don't
you try to eat a little bit.
- I don't want nothin' to eat.
- [Rachel] You've got to eat.
- Is she all right?
(birds chirping)
(men chattering)
- Why are they not shootin'?
It's been hours.
(somber music)
- Do you remember what I
was sayin' the other night
that we could probably
hold our head long enough
until all this gets out and
the government sends troops?
Well, I've been thinkin'.
They've got this whole
place sealed off.
How's anyone in the world
gonna ever know we're up here?
- [Abner] I guess somebody's
gotta go tell 'em.
- [Gideon] That's our only hope.
- I can get through.
You want me to go to Columbia?
- Columbia?
We got most of Columbia
out there shootin' at us.
- Charleston?
- Stephen Holms is
in charge there.
Washington's our only hope.
We'll hold out here until
you get the word there.
- If that's the way you see it.
- That's the way I see it.
- I got a fast horse.
If I can make it to the road,
they ain't gonna catch me.
- Then, when you get to
Washington, find Douglas Sloane.
He's a senator.
Give him this.
Tell him our situation here.
And he'll understand.
- I'll leave as
soon as it's dark.
- Good luck.
(horse hooves clomping)
(insects chirping)
(baby crying)
(man coughing)
- How're they doin'?
- We're low on medicine.
We need help.
- Just do the best you can.
(horse hooves clomping)
(gun firing)
(horse whinnying)
(ominous music)
(horse hooves clomping)
- [Man] Get him up.
Here we go.
(horse whinnying)
(dramatic music)
- I told you you were headed
for big trouble, Lait.
There's no need.
This didn't have to happen.
Now I'm gonna show you how
I handle nigger lovers.
Kill him!
(horse whinnying)
(whip lashing)
(Abner screaming)
- We have a special whip
for nigger lovers, Abner.
(whip lashing)
(Abner screaming)
- Enough.
(guns firing)
(dramatic music)
(cannon booming)
(baby crying)
- Get the women and
children downstairs.
You go upstairs and help 'em.
(cannon booming)
(cannon booming)
(baby crying)
- Ruth!
(cannon booming)
- Come on, stay away
from the windows.
Get down, get down.
Hurry up.
- [Peter] Sit over here.
Come on, now.
- [Man] Get down.
(guns firing)
Come on, sit down.
(cannon booming)
(women and children screaming)
- Help us, Lord!
- Papa, you wanna surrender?
- No, son.
I'm gonna put this flag up
and get the women and children
out of here.
That's all I can do.
- And then what happens?
- We fight to the last man.
- How can we fight a
cannon with rifles?
- We've lost the battle, son,
but not our dreams.
Those cannot be destroyed
by their cannons.
Come on.
And Marcus, get that lantern.
We have to be sure
they see this flag.
Hurry.
(babies crying)
Get the women and
children ready.
I want 'em all out
when the time comes.
(cannon booming)
(tense music)
- All persons held as slaves
(emotional music)
within any state or
designated part of a state
are and henceforward
shall be free.
And that the executive
government of the United States
will recognize and
maintain the freedom
of said persons.
And upon this act, I invoke
the considerate judgment
of mankind and the gracious
favor of Almighty God.
Signed, Abraham Lincoln.
(cannon booming)
(dramatic music)
(Rachel crying)
(somber music)
(cannon booming)
(dramatic music)
- Come on, men.
(Rachel crying)
(baby crying)
- I will love thee oh Lord, my--
(guns firing)
- Miss Rachel!
(baby crying)
(guns firing)
(dramatic music)
(fire crackling)
(chandelier shattering)
(wind whistling)
(distant guns firing)
(wind whistling)
(horse whinnying)
(Gideon coughs)
- Men, I have been ordered
to read something to you.
- I hope that means we
get some more blankets.
- Damned if I know
what it means, Trooper.
All I know is the
president has issued
some sort of emancipation
proclamation,
whatever that is.
- Emanci what?
- If the major don't know
what it is, how I know?
He don't know.
They're tired.
I'll read it to
'em in the morning.
- Yes, sir.
(somber music)
That on the first
day of January,
in the year of our Lord 1863,
all persons held as
slaves within any state
or designated part of a state,
are and henceforward
shall be free.
And that the
executive government
of the United States,
(uplifting music)
including the military and
naval authorities thereof,
will recognize and maintain
the freedom of said persons.
And upon this act,
sincerely believed to be
an act of justice, warranted
by the Constitution,
I invoke the considerate
judgment of mankind,
and the gracious
favor of Almighty God.
Signed, Abraham Lincoln.
(dramatic music)
(moving to somber music)
(rooster crowing)
(dog barking)
- Gideon, Gideon, Gideon,
the sheriff is coming!
He's right here.
Gideon!
- Too.
- Been huntin', Gideon?
- When you talk to my papa,
you call him Mr. Jackson.
- Marcus.
What is it, Sheriff?
- Come out here on a
small matter of business.
(wagon clattering)
(horse hooves clomping)
(horse whinnying)
- Take your finger off
that trigger, Hugar.
Both of you put them
guns down at your feet.
Now.
(rifle clicking)
- Do as he says.
(chickens clucking)
- Now, what's this business
you gotta talk about, Sheriff?
- Remember that big
auction years ago
when you bought this here land?
Seems you bought it illegally.
The taxes was paid.
Dudley Carwell still
owns this land.
- Is that the best you can do
to get us off of this land?
- I got a court order here--
- And I bet you've
got forged tax papers
to go right along with
your real court order.
- These tax papers
and this court order
are legal and binding.
- You can take 'em.
I didn't learn to
read to read lies.
- What about the
houses we built?
- And the money we
paid for this land?
- You got a week to get off.
- What about when
your week comes around
and we're still here?
- Listen, ain't no
niggers and trash
gonna scare me none.
I'll deputize every man in
this county if I have to.
- You'll have to and then some.
- You asking for bad trouble.
- No, you bringin' trouble.
- Any time a nigger
gets too high,
just naturally makes trouble.
- You use that word nigger
again, that'll be the last word
you'll ever say.
And get off this land.
Now!
(tense music)
- Get up, come on here.
- Pa, maybe you shouldn't
have spoken to him that way.
- Son, there's no other
way he would have listened.
- Nah, this was coming, Jeff.
Nothing nobody says
is gonna change it.
- [Peter] Morning.
- Morning.
- Gonna talk, Gideon?
- There's no need
for me to talk.
Everybody here
knows what happened.
- Well, what are we gonna do?
- Well, you figure it out.
I say they're not
gonna wait a week.
- Ain't there's a chance
that they's bluffing, Gideon?
- Bluffing?
Do you really think
that they think
that they can bluff
us out of our land,
out of the homes that
we lived and fought
and died for years?
Do you really believe that?
- I reckon no.
- All right, they're gonna come.
I'm still asking the
same damn question.
What do we do?
- We can run away,
hide somewheres.
The Negroes we can find 'em
a plantation to hide on,
you get a little work,
earn 'em a little grits,
little fat back, place to sleep.
They can live that way
as long as they keep
their mouths shut.
- What about us white folks?
- Ain't no different
for us, Frank.
Maybe y'all wanna go back
to working for somebody else
all your life, but I'll
be damned if I will.
- If we stay at our homes,
we'll all be killed.
- If we all stay
together, we can fight.
- There is still the law.
And there are still courts.
My God, do we have
to destroy ourselves?
- We're living in bad times
and the law is in the hands of
those who came their houses.
And the court's on their side.
You understand, son?
- Well, there must
be some other way.
- What other way?
- Suppose we reckon to fight.
I like standin' up
for what's mine.
That's a good way to
be as I see things.
But how?
We're not an army.
- I know a place
where we can all be.
It's easy to defend and
commands the whole countryside.
I mean the Carwell mansion.
We can probably hold
out there long enough
until this all gets out.
Then the government will
send the troops back
and they can stay
with us and help us
until we're able to
protect ourselves.
Now, I've said my piece,
decide for yourselves.
(somber music)
- Brethrens, we're here today
in fear and anger.
God help us to
choose the right way.
(dramatic music)
- We'll fight.
- We're going to the
Carwell house like you said.
- Abner, you take
care of the guns.
Hannibal, you spread the word.
Tell Brother Peter keep the
women and children calm.
Meet you at the
mansion at sundown.
Bring all the water
and food you can.
Quick.
- [Trooper] Gideon.
- Yeah, Trooper?
- I ain't leavin' my place.
- Why?
- Me and my wife we
break our damn backs
turnin' over that dirt.
I'm stayin'.
Ain't nobody gonna move
me outta my place, Gideon,
not even you.
- I understand you, Trooper.
Do what you want.
But if you ever change your
mind, you know where we'll be.
(dramatic music)
- Cary, be careful, eh.
- [Marion] Louise.
- [Louise] Lord, Marion I stay--
- Louise, it's
gonna be all right.
Here you are, here boy, take it.
- Watch your leg, Mom.
(horse whinnying)
(moving to dramatic music)
- You ready, Ellen?
Don't worry, I got you.
(people chattering)
- Open it.
(child crying)
(dramatic music)
Rachel, you and Louise
set the kitchen in here.
I want the guns and
ammunition stored in here.
(tense music)
We'll place the wagons here
and make this our
first line of defense.
Get boards, whatever you
can and barricade the porch.
They'll be coming
from that direction.
- Gideon, we could get the
old bell from the schoolhouse,
bring it up here and use
it as a warning bell.
- Good, then do it and put
guards around the porch.
(gentle music)
I want the best shots up here.
I want a guard here,
guard in the middle,
and two on the end.
(tense music)
Brother Peter, we'll put
the children in here.
The women folks here.
- That's fine.
- I want two guards
downstairs and two upstairs.
- Mom, Mom, they're back!
(upbeat music)
Mom, they're back!
Mom, they're back!
(dog barking)
(people shouting)
- Please, please, a
little peace and quiet.
And we'll give out answers
to all them questions.
This votin' here's like a
wedding or a Christmas sermon.
- Amen.
- It's for all of us.
The government put out
it's strong right arm
and said vote for or
against this Constitution
and we did.
- [People In Crowd] Mmm hmm.
- [Peter] The government says
again, choose our delegates.
- Sure 'nuff.
- [Peter] And we did that too.
We choose our Gideon.
- [Woman] What a delegate?
- You all knows we ask Gideon
about plantin' and such,
so it just seemed
natural to choose him out
to be our delegate.
- That's right.
- [Rachel] Why they choose you?
- I don't know.
- Where you goin'?
- Charleston.
- When you gonna leave?
- I guess tomorrow.
- Tomorrow?
(children shouting)
How long you gonna be gone?
- I don't know.
- Every time you go
away, I get scared
you ain't comin' back.
- Come on now, don't cry.
It's hallelujah time.
It's hallelujah time.
(insects and birds chirping)
(somber music)
- What you been thinking?
- Rachel, I'm scared.
- Why you scared?
- 'Cause I'm just a
ignorant colored man.
Can't read, can't
write but my name.
And tomorrow I goes to
Charleston a delegate man.
- Well, why didn't you say
no when they picked you out?
- 'Cause, Rachel, we done voted
and they choose me.
Do you know what that mean?
We done voted.
- Come on now, it's
gonna be all right.
Dis hallelujah
time, honey child.
♪ I gonna lay down my burden
♪ Way down
♪ Down by the riverside
♪ Way down
♪ Down by the riverside
♪ Way down
♪ Down by the riverside
♪ I'm gonna lay down my burden
♪ Way down
♪ Down by the riverside
♪ Study war no more
♪ Oh I ain't gonna
study war no more ♪
♪ I ain't gonna
study war no more ♪
♪ Ain't gonna
study war no more ♪
(emotional music)
- I'll see ya.
Come on now, son,
you gotta go back.
Mornin', Mr. Lait.
- How come you all trussed
up like a turkey, Gideon?
- I'm off to Charleston
to a convention.
- Convention?
What the hell you gonna
do at a convention?
- I gotta choose our new votin'.
(birds chirping)
- A nigger at a
convention at Charleston?
I reckon they'll
damn well lynch you
before you open
your mouth, Gideon.
- Well, maybe so, but I
got government papers,
government papers right
here in my pocket.
Hey, didn't I see
you at the votin'?
- I been.
But I don't vote for no nigger.
- How's your crops, Mr. Lait?
- Fills our bellies.
We got more than we had when I
was old man Carwell's tenant.
It just come to me, Gideon.
Lookin' at you, it just come
to me why we lost the war.
- [Gideon] How's that?
- I reckon it had
to be bad shootin'.
Big old black target like you,
couldn't nobody
put a hole in ya.
- Their shootin' was fine.
Trouble was, they was too slow.
By the time they got
me in their sights,
I'd already put a hole in first.
Bye, I gotta keep walkin'.
Got a long ways to go.
- Where you walkin' to?
- Charleston, ma'am, Charleston.
- [Abner] That ain't
none of your business.
- Bye, Mr. Lait.
(lighthearted music)
(people chattering)
- [Soldier] Are you a delegate?
- Yes, sir.
- [Soldier] May I have
your credentials please?
- [Soldier] Gideon
Jackson, Carwell-Sinkerton?
- That's right.
- Do you understand your
duties as a delegate
to this convention?
- I think so.
- Do you understand the
significance of this convention?
- What?
- Do you understand the
significance of this convention?
- Sir, I don't know if I
know what significant mean.
- There's more instructions
a little later on.
- Thank you.
(people chattering)
- Excuse me, Major, what
was that gentleman's name?
- Gideon Jackson from
Carwell-Sinkerton.
- Thank you.
(horse whinnying)
- Oh, uh, Mr. Jackson.
- Yes, sir.
- I'm Francis L. Cardozo,
free Negro and delegate
from the district of Charleston.
- Thank you, glad to meet you.
- Do you have a place to stay?
- Sir, I'm so happy
about being here,
I never thought about it.
- (chuckles) Yes, I understand.
I have a friend, Mrs.
Carter, who will board you.
- Sir, I ain't got no money.
- The delegates will be paid.
- Sorry, sir, but I can't read.
- This note is for Mrs.
Carter, just to let her know
I've sent you.
There you are.
- Well, thank you.
I really appreciate it.
- Well come, I have a carriage.
I'll be glad to drop you off.
- Thank you.
- Now, Mr. Jackson,
this is our spare room.
We hope you're gonna find
it comfortable, enjoyable.
We're certainly going to
enjoy having you here with us.
- Am I the only one
supposed to be here?
- Oh yes, it's your room.
We eat at seven.
- Well, Mr. Cardozo's gonna
pick me up about 6:30.
- Then you better
give me your jacket
and let me press it for you.
If you're gonna have
dinner with the Cardozos,
you want to look your best.
(somber music)
(water splashing)
- Not those books, Gideon.
If you wish to learn, these are
the books that can help you.
(clock ticking)
They're easy.
They'll get you started.
(clock chiming)
- Come, Nat.
See the
big man
with his
black hat.
The delegate.
The delegate.
- You cannot force education
on a whole population
of illiterates!
- Why?
- The whites won't go to
school with the coloreds.
- If I can sit in this
convention with niggers,
my son can sit in a
schoolroom with 'em.
- This is insanity.
There has never been such a
war before in this country!
- Then we will begin!
We must begin somewhere!
- It won't work!
- We can try!
(delegates applauding
and cheering)
- [Man] Maybe shorten these
sleeves up a little bit.
- Gideon, doesn't all
this freedom business
seem like a dream?
- Ain't no dream, ma'am.
I fought for it.
- I've got something for you.
A new suit deserves a new hat.
- I didn't ask for this.
It costs too much.
- Oh, it's my gift to ya.
Come see how you look.
Now you're a real delegate.
- Not yet.
Shoulders need to
be a little wider.
- [Man] What about the land?
- [Men] Right, right.
- Uncle, why don't
you open your eyes?
You're a nigger and
I'm white trash.
We got schools out of
this here convention
but we ain't gonna get no land.
If we want land, we're
gonna have to work and sweat
and pay for it.
- Ain't we worked this
land maybe a hundred years?
Ain't we put in the
crop and take it out?
Who got a better right to land?
- Well, it ain't a
question of rights,
it's a question of property.
- I paid for property.
The price is right
here on my back.
I paid!
I say we get land!
- And I say to you
that the proposed law
to give away land is so
reckless that if it is passed,
it will haunt everyone
who votes for it
as well as those of
future generations
of the people of South Carolina.
(crowd applauding and cheering)
(crowd members booing)
(gavel thudding)
- The Chair recognizes...
- Gideon Jackson from
Carwell-Sinkerton.
Can't read much, I
can't write much.
I'm just a simple man.
Come out the cotton fields,
come all the way
to this convention
lookin' for a few things.
We all want the learnin' and
we seem to be gettin' that.
(crowd applauding)
But we want our freedom.
- [Crowd] Freedom!
- Our freedom insures
a iron fence post.
(crowd cheering and applauding)
Sir, that can only come
by having our own lands.
(crowd cheering and applauding)
- [Crowd Member] No, no, no!
- Now, sure I speak for
all the Negroes here.
That just want a little
farm, a few acres of land
where they can put in
and plant and take out
their own crops and feed
themselves and their families.
That's all they want.
(crowd cheering and applauding)
(gavel thudding)
(horse whinnying)
- Mr. Jackson.
- [Gideon] Yes, sir.
- My name is Stephen Holms
and you were quite
eloquent this afternoon.
- Well, not good enough
to carry the motion.
- Well, I'm not sure
that any argument
could overcome the prejudice
that most people have
about the sanctity
of private property.
I would like very much for you
to come to my home for dinner.
- Why me?
- I would like my
friends to meet you
and I would like you
to meet my friends.
- But why?
- Well, Mr. Jackson, I am a
gentleman of the old order
and there are great
changes in the wind.
Startling new ideas are abroad
which I am trying very
hard to understand.
Now that the convention
is nearly over
men like you will be going home
and I think it would
be a great pity
if my friends did not
have the opportunity
to exchange these
new ideas with you.
- How come you never
asked me until tonight?
- I didn't know you
could speak until today.
Today's the first time
you spoke, isn't it?
- (chuckles) I ain't never
heard you speak either.
- (chuckles) I'm a
listener, Mr. Jackson.
Someone has to just listen.
Now, what about dinner?
- When?
- Shall we say tomorrow night?
- That'll be fine.
- How do you find
lawmaking, Jackson, amusing?
- Well, it's more rewarding
than picking cotton, General.
- What do they pay you?
- $3 a day.
- What on Earth could a
Negro do with all that money?
- Just go in town, act like
savages, spend it, get drunk,
just like the newspapers say.
- We were always very kind
to our colored folk, Gideon.
- I understand you were one
of Mr. Carwell's field hands
until just a few years ago.
- I was, sir.
Fact is, I got a mark
of distinction there.
- A mark of distinction?
How interesting.
- Yes, ma'am.
I earned over 100 stripes there
but I didn't wear them on
my sleeves like the general.
I wore them on my back!
- I understand that the nigger
takes his master's
name, Mr. Jackson.
You were owned by
Mr. Carwell here.
- When I joined the army,
Yankee captain tells me,
"You could have a family name.
"Who owns you?"
I say to him, nobody owns me.
A man may have me in chains,
but he ain't never owned me.
- Get out of here
you black swine!
- This is my house, Dudley.
You forget yourself.
- I forget nothing, Holms.
You get this black ape
out of here or I'll,
I'll kill him with my two hands.
- No sir, you don't have
the hands to do the job.
- [Dudley] Why did you invite
that nigger here tonight?
- Because he was
your slave, Dudley.
Three years ago
he was illiterate.
Well, did you watch him tonight?
Did he act like a slave?
Or did he act like
a baboon, a savage
as our newspapers have it?
Surely you don't believe
what they're telling you
about the convention.
I was there and I'm telling
you they did it very cleverly.
In every new measure, they
put black and white together.
On the vote, on freehold
of land, in education.
Well, now where is
our legal recourse?
Do you think that men
like Gideon Jackson
will give up what they
have gained easily?
Gentlemen, when you handed
the convention over to niggers
and white trash, you committed
the second greatest blunder
of our lifetime.
The first was the war!
- You don't have a very
high opinion of us.
- Well frankly I don't.
- They are still
niggers and white trash.
- Don't you realize that in
one generation of education
for those niggers, everything
we stand for will be a memory.
Gentlemen, you take our way
of life very much for granted.
Don't you realize that it is
the sum total of 2000 years
of Western history?
Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, gone!
Philosophy, art, religion.
Our culture's
infinitely precious.
Its loss would be a catastrophe.
Well, who will pick our cotton?
Who will be our servants?
- Well, we can play their game.
- Oh can we?
And offer them what?
40 cents a day?
No freehold of land,
ignorance, a return to slavery?
That's quite a bargain.
Do you think Gideon
Jackson will accept?
- No, I don't think so.
But we can hang him.
- Yes, we can hang him.
But hangin' one nigger is
not going to put a stop
to this movement.
Terror can be very, very useful
but only with an end in view.
Otherwise, it's a waste of time.
It needs to be planned,
it needs to be organized.
(somber music)
It needs a destination.
Now, I think the Klan
here is our organization.
I am fully aware that
for the most part
it consists of scum, a
lot of credulous fools
scampering around in
the woods at night
with white napkins
on their heads.
But they can be useful
under the influence
of men of substance
like ourselves.
- How long do we wait?
- Two or three
years, possibly five.
But we will not be idle
in that time, gentlemen.
- When that time comes,
Stephen, the Ku Klux Klan
will be an army, I promise.
(gentle music)
(birds chirping)
(baby crying)
- Jeff?
- Yes.
- Jeff, how much longer
we gotta stay here?
- Not much longer, Ellen.
It's getting pretty
quiet outside.
- I'm afraid.
Jeff, I'm afraid.
- It's okay, everything's
gonna be all right.
(somber music)
- [Man] Henry.
- Thank you.
(rifles clacking)
(birds chirping)
(emotional music)
(gentle music)
I almost wish we had put
in a few acres of cotton.
- [Man] Be happy if I never
see a cotton ball brick again.
- [Man] It's a sour crop.
- No it's not.
It's the crop of this land.
It's a cash crop.
And that's what we need is cash.
- What for?
- 'Cause nothing's really ours.
Not this land we're walking
on, not even the shacks
we're living in.
Until now, nobody ask
what are we doin' here?
- Why anybody ask now?
- 'Cause come the
first election,
things are gonna be different.
Then we have to explain where
everything is coming from.
- Who's gonna put
us off our land?
- Whoever buys the purse.
Old man Carwell
lost it for taxes.
- Won't the government
buy it for us?
- I don't think so.
We have to buy it as our land.
- How we gonna get it?
- Get money and buy the land.
- That take a lot of money.
- Of course it'll
take a lot of money,
but if we all work
and stick together,
we can save our money, go to
the bank and borrow the rest.
- The railroad's putting a
causeway through the swamp.
Asking for men a dollar a day.
- Dollar a day?
- Mmm hmm, niggers and whites.
- If we get 20 men,
that's $20 a day.
- If they keep us
for six, eight weeks,
how much money that is?
- I don't know,
it's a lot of money,
but I'll figure it out.
$347.
But we got something wrong here.
- [Man] Okay.
♪ Well it sounds like, ah
♪ Sounds like thunder, ah
♪ Way down here, Lord, ah
♪ Way down here, ah
♪ And it sounds like, ah
♪ Sounds like thunder, ah
♪ And I hear my, ah
♪ Hammer call, ah
♪ Well it sounds like, ah
♪ Sounds like thunder, ah
♪ Way down here, Lord, ah
♪ Way down here, ah
- Good morning, Mr. Lait.
♪ And it sounds like, ah
(crickets chirping)
- Good evening, Mr. Lait.
I'd like to talk to you.
- What about?
- About the Carwell land.
- You and me ain't got
nothing to talk about, Gideon.
- But it's important.
- Look here, Gideon,
lotta people don't like
niggers and whites
workin' together.
And a lot of them don't like
y'all makin' a dollar a day.
(horse hooves clomping)
(men shouting)
(guns firing)
(dramatic music)
- Don't work with niggers.
We're gonna stab all you
Yankee nigger lovers.
- Them friends of yours?
- Friends of mine?
I got about as much use
for them as I got for you.
- They're trying to kill you.
I'm not trying to kill you.
(men shouting)
(guns firing)
- I guess we bring our
guns to work every day now.
- Don't worry, next time we'll
have the Union Army here.
(fire crackling)
♪ Well it sounds like, ah
♪ Sounds like thunder, ah
♪ Way down here, Lord, ah
♪ Way down here, ah
♪ And it sounds like, ah
♪ Sounds like thunder, ah
♪ Way down here, Lord, ah
♪ Way down here, ah
♪ Well it sounds like, ah
♪ Sounds like thunder, ah
♪ Way down here, Lord, ah
♪ Way down here, ah
♪ And it sounds like, ah
♪ Sounds like thunder, ah
♪ Way down here, Lord
(tree creaking)
- [Man] Fall out!
- Yah, yah!
(tree crashing)
- Come on, Will.
(tense music)
- [Man] Boys, take up there now.
- Watch his head.
- Hold his face up.
- [Man] Let's get him
out of the sun, huh.
(somber music)
- [Man] Get him?
- [Gideon] Mr. Lait.
(Abner panting)
Thank God!
I think he's gonna make it.
- Make your mark over here.
(insects chirping)
Sign or make your
mark right here.
Sign right here.
Seven weeks' work
comes to $49, Gideon.
I'm gonna build a spur
line over in Greenville.
I could use you and these men.
- Thank you, sir, but
we've got crops to tend.
- Well, if you change your mind,
there's always a job.
(men chattering)
Make your mark right here.
Sign or make your mark here.
Make your mark here.
- I like gettin' paid
for my work, Gideon.
- When a man's got
money, he can buy things.
I'm gonna buy
Louise a fine dress.
- The land come first, remember.
- But Gideon, we ain't
never even had no,
been in the store with
money that we worked for.
- The land come first.
Now, how many can put
their money with mine?
- Gideon's right.
We all agreed to buy land.
(coins clanking)
(tense music)
(moving to uplifting music)
- Know, while coming over
I noticed in the back
back there, you have a
mighty nice crop for one man,
crop you can be mighty,
mighty proud of.
But who owns the land
it's growin' on, Mr. Lait?
Think about it.
Who owns the land?
- Be damned if I know,
damned if I care.
Dudley Carwell owned it
once and he don't anymore
and you know that.
- But it's goin' now, every lot,
every acre for
taxes, it's goin'.
- All right, so it go.
- You know the whole Carwell
place will be sold at auction
sometime in October.
They're probably going thousand
acre lots, nothing smaller.
Then what you
gonna do, Mr. Lait?
- What the hell you
think I'm gonna do?
I'm gonna be sitting
here right where I am.
Ain't nobody and no
auction gonna run me off.
- It sounds good, but
it don't make sense.
The sheriff comes in,
lays the law down.
Then what you gonna
do, buck the law?
You don't stand a chance.
- Well, I don't need a
nigger to come tell me that.
- Well, how you feel
about us is your business,
but how you feel about this
land here is all our business.
A man without land is no
better than a damn slave.
I don't care if the slave's
a black man or a white man.
- And what do you want me for?
What'd I ever do for you?
I never even thanked
you for saving my life.
- Yeah, I know.
- Well then why?
- If you say yes, we can
get other white families
like the Carson brothers or
Will Boone and Jake Suttler.
- Maybe.
Maybe so.
(birds chirping)
How do you know they'll
sell you the land?
- Well, all the Yankee land
agents and already promising
it'll be a fair auction.
Gotta trust somebody sometime.
(mellow upbeat music)
- When you gonna start?
- Just as soon as I can
get you to come with me
to talk to the other
white families.
I'm glad you decided
to come with us
to go over the land with
them government tracing.
- Well, I think
that's the best idea
since the dividing's all going
to be done off this tracing.
You see your map is
no good for bidding.
- It's a fine thing you're
doing for us, Mr. Greene.
We're beholdin' to you for it.
- I told you Jack, see.
They goin' up that damn Yankee
land lawyer come to town.
They gonna bid on that land.
- Where'd they get the money?
- How the hell should I know?
They got it.
- Niggers buyin' land.
- Niggers and whites
buying it together.
(crickets chirping)
(horse hooves clomping)
(bird cawing)
(ominous music)
- What do you want?
- [Man In Hood] Good
evening, Lawyer Greene.
(Greene grunts)
(punches thudding)
(Greene grunting)
(horse hooves clomping)
(people chattering)
- Where are the soldiers?
I don't see any soldiers.
Where are the soldiers?
You promised me that the
soldiers would be here.
- I was told they would be here.
- Well, I'm not gonna
bid unless they're here.
I'm sorry, I'm not gonna
bid unless they're here.
(people chattering)
- Coming up, the Carwell
plantation, block number one.
250 acres of prime cotton land
and 1000 acres of pasture.
We'll start the bidding
off at 2.50 an acre.
Well, do I hear $3,
gimme three over here,
three, I got $3, gimme
three and a half.
Right here, three
and a half dollars,
there's three and a half.
Ladies and gentlemen,
don't pay any attention
to them Yankee soldiers.
We got some fine cotton
land here for sale.
Now, when the bidding's start
with it at three and a half,
now who'll gimme 3.60?
There's 3.60, gimme 3.75.
Three, 3.75.
Got 3.75, now who'll gimme 3.80?
Do I hear 3.80?
Hup, 3.80, gimme 3.90.
Do we have $3 up to 3.90,
gimme four, do I hear four.
Do I hear four, there,
even four and a quarter.
- I don't understand.
- Hup, here four and a quarter.
Who to here four and a
quarter, gimme four and a half,
here four and a quarter,
gimme four and a half.
At four and a half,
four and a half.
Here four and a
half, gimme 4.75,
four and a half, gimme 4.75.
Here four and a
half, gimme 4.75,
four and a half, gimme 4.75.
Goin' once, goin'
twice, sold to the man
for $4.50 an acre.
(men chattering)
- I don't know.
- [Auctioneer]
Carwell, block two.
- [Abner] Did you get it?
- Let's get the hell outta here.
- [Abner] What happened?
- We got it.
- Two of them A1s.
- Sycamores?
- The flat?
- Right, and the
number four alternates.
(wind whistling)
- My granddaddy must've
seen the land this way once.
- We came into this land
whither thou sentest us.
And surely if flowed
with milk and honey.
And this is the fruit of it.
- Amen.
(lively music)
(people shouting)
- Come dance with me, Gideon,
it's a hallelujah time!
- Hey, Gideon!
I'm dancing on my own land!
♪ Green grow the lilacs
♪ All wet with dew
♪ How lonesome, my darling
♪ Since leavin' you
♪ Old time religion
♪ Gimme that old time religion
♪ Gimme that old time religion
♪ It's good enough for me
♪ It was good for
the Hebrew children ♪
♪ It was good for
the Hebrew children ♪
♪ It was good for
the Hebrew children ♪
♪ It's good enough for me
♪ Ah gimme that
old time religion ♪
♪ Say it again
♪ Gimme that old time religion
♪ Gimme that old time religion
♪ It's good enough for me
- Gideon!
♪ Gimme that old
(fire crackling)
(tense music)
(dramatic music)
(gentle music)
- Come and look at it, come on.
- Look, Jonathan.
Have to be careful.
How'd I say?
Ain't that something?
That's up to your I'm sure.
Now, you see that?
Look at it.
That's called a chandelier, huh?
(dog whimpering and barking)
(dog barking)
- Trooper.
- What, you hear somethin'?
- I don't know.
The dog keep barkin'.
(dog whimpering)
We shoulda stayed
with Gideon and them.
- We ain't leavin'.
- Trooper, I ain't never
afore gone against you,
but me and them girls is going
to where Rachel and them is.
- Stay here with the children.
(dog whimpering and panting)
(crickets chirping)
(ominous music)
(horse hooves clomping)
(moving to dramatic music)
- [Hugar] Put the
damn gun down, nigger.
- You're on my land, Hugar.
You dirty white trash,
get off my land!
(dog growling)
(dog screeches)
(guns firing)
(man shouts)
(Trooper shouts)
- Papa!
(gun firing)
(men whooping)
(woman and children screaming)
(gun firing)
(moving to dramatic music)
(fire crackling)
(horse hooves clomping)
- My God!
Gideon!
- [Gideon] Trooper's house.
- His two kids.
- Wait, stop!
It's too late to help 'em.
Only chance we've got is
staying here together.
Hannibal, you go down
and see what happened.
(dramatic music)
(fire crackling)
- This'll warm you up.
- Thank you.
(dogs barking)
- Looks like your place, Abner.
(crickets chirping)
- They gonna burn us to
the ground, all of us.
And we ain't seen
the worst of it.
(footsteps clacking)
- They killed 'em, all of 'em.
(somber music)
(Rachel cries)
- I will lift up mine
eyes unto the hills
from whence cometh my help.
You help cometh from the Lord
which made heaven and Earth.
You will not suffer
thou foot to be moved.
The Lord is thy keeper.
The Lord is thy shade
upon thy right hand.
(people shouting)
- Come dance with me, Gideon,
it's a hallelujah time.
Whoo yeah!
Come on dance.
(screams)
Hey, Gideon, I'm
dancin' on my own land!
(horse snorting)
(bird cawing)
- Saw something move
down by the barn.
(tense music)
Lynchers!
Go tell Gideon!
(bell ringing)
- Gideon, Gideon, lynchers
be down by the barn.
(somber music)
- It looks like Bentley.
- Hello there, Jackson.
Can we talk?
- Talk.
- Let's talk sense
plain and simple.
Now, there ain't no need
to start a war, Gideon.
All you gotta do is
just get off the land.
- Is that what you told Trooper
and his family last night?
- It was an accident.
The boys lost their heads.
- And I guess burnin'
all the houses
was an accident, too, huh?
- These ain't your houses
and this ain't your land.
- This is a waste of time.
Why don't we shoot
that son-of-a-bitch?
- I'll remember that, Lait.
What do you say, Gideon?
- I say that we hold you
responsible for the slaughter
of Trooper and his family.
I say that we hold you
responsible for the burning
of our homes.
Wait, I'm not finished.
You go back and tell your gang
that if they come
within rifle range
of this house, they're dead.
Tell that to your boys.
- Then old Pharaoh
changed his mind again.
Then the Lord said,
Moses, he said tell Aaron
to put his rod into the dust.
And the dust turned into lice
and the lice got into the beast
then into the house
of the Egyptians.
Pharaoh laughed and he
told magicians, he said,
I want you to do the same thing.
Now, you remember what
I told you before.
The magicians was doin'
everything that Moses was doin'.
So the magicians tried.
And they tried and
couldn't do it.
Moses went on down
there the next mornin'
and he told the Pharaoh
to let my people go.
Pharaoh said no.
(bell ringing)
(horse hooves clomping)
(men shouting)
- Hold your fire.
- Hold your fire!
- Hold your fire!
(rifles clacking)
- Fire!
(guns firing)
- Stanley, hold your fire.
- [Stanley] Hold your fire!
- [Man] Charge!
(men shouting)
- Hannibal fire!
- Fire!
(guns firing)
(men shouting)
- [Man] Get down, Annie.
- Stay down, we're
gonna be all right.
- Fire!
(guns firing)
(men screaming)
(glass shattering)
(baby crying)
(child screaming)
(men shouting)
(dramatic music)
(glass shattering)
- Jeff!
- Marion!
- Louise!
- Oh, Marion (cries).
No, no, no, no!
(guns firing)
- Jeff!
- Help.
Help.
Help, help!
- Jeff, leave him be!
(men grunting)
Come back, no, Jeff, no!
- Jeff, get back here!
Jeff, come back!
Don't be a fool, son.
- Let him lay there.
(gun firing)
- The Lord giveth, the
good Lord taketh away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
(sad music)
The Lord is my shepherd
and I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down
in the green pastures.
He leadeth me by
the still waters.
He restoreth my soul.
He leadeth me in the
path of righteousness
for His name's sake.
Yea, though I walk
through the valley
of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil
for Thou art with me.
Thy rod and Thy staff,
they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table 'fore me
in the presence of mine enemies.
Thou anointest my head with oil.
My cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and
mercy shall follow me
all the days of my
life and I shall dwell
in the house of
the Lord forever.
Amen.
(Ellen cries)
(somber music)
- Rachel, Rachel!
What are you gonna do?
- (cries) I ain't
gonna pray no more.
And I ain't gonna cry no more.
I'm gonna fight back!
- Fight who?
- Them!
Them that killed my Jeff.
- Now, come on.
Just come on back here with me.
Come on.
Just come on back, come on.
- All I know is
that Jeff is dead.
That's all I know.
(emotional music)
- Jeff did what he had to.
He died a doctor doing
what he believed in.
Set down.
- What's gonna happen to us?
All the things we believe in?
- Regardless to
what happens to us,
I want you to know that
I've always loved you.
(wind whistling)
- Children now, when
you get your breakfast,
I want you to go
inside and wait for me
and then I'll say the grace.
All right, John.
Mornin'.
- [Woman] Mornin',
Brother Peter.
- Now, you children
have patience outside.
There's enough
breakfast for everybody.
- Good luck today.
- [Man] Shotgun.
- How do you feel?
- [Man] All right.
(birds chirping)
(baby crying)
- [Rachel] Ellen, why don't
you try to eat a little bit.
- I don't want nothin' to eat.
- [Rachel] You've got to eat.
- Is she all right?
(birds chirping)
(men chattering)
- Why are they not shootin'?
It's been hours.
(somber music)
- Do you remember what I
was sayin' the other night
that we could probably
hold our head long enough
until all this gets out and
the government sends troops?
Well, I've been thinkin'.
They've got this whole
place sealed off.
How's anyone in the world
gonna ever know we're up here?
- [Abner] I guess somebody's
gotta go tell 'em.
- [Gideon] That's our only hope.
- I can get through.
You want me to go to Columbia?
- Columbia?
We got most of Columbia
out there shootin' at us.
- Charleston?
- Stephen Holms is
in charge there.
Washington's our only hope.
We'll hold out here until
you get the word there.
- If that's the way you see it.
- That's the way I see it.
- I got a fast horse.
If I can make it to the road,
they ain't gonna catch me.
- Then, when you get to
Washington, find Douglas Sloane.
He's a senator.
Give him this.
Tell him our situation here.
And he'll understand.
- I'll leave as
soon as it's dark.
- Good luck.
(horse hooves clomping)
(insects chirping)
(baby crying)
(man coughing)
- How're they doin'?
- We're low on medicine.
We need help.
- Just do the best you can.
(horse hooves clomping)
(gun firing)
(horse whinnying)
(ominous music)
(horse hooves clomping)
- [Man] Get him up.
Here we go.
(horse whinnying)
(dramatic music)
- I told you you were headed
for big trouble, Lait.
There's no need.
This didn't have to happen.
Now I'm gonna show you how
I handle nigger lovers.
Kill him!
(horse whinnying)
(whip lashing)
(Abner screaming)
- We have a special whip
for nigger lovers, Abner.
(whip lashing)
(Abner screaming)
- Enough.
(guns firing)
(dramatic music)
(cannon booming)
(baby crying)
- Get the women and
children downstairs.
You go upstairs and help 'em.
(cannon booming)
(cannon booming)
(baby crying)
- Ruth!
(cannon booming)
- Come on, stay away
from the windows.
Get down, get down.
Hurry up.
- [Peter] Sit over here.
Come on, now.
- [Man] Get down.
(guns firing)
Come on, sit down.
(cannon booming)
(women and children screaming)
- Help us, Lord!
- Papa, you wanna surrender?
- No, son.
I'm gonna put this flag up
and get the women and children
out of here.
That's all I can do.
- And then what happens?
- We fight to the last man.
- How can we fight a
cannon with rifles?
- We've lost the battle, son,
but not our dreams.
Those cannot be destroyed
by their cannons.
Come on.
And Marcus, get that lantern.
We have to be sure
they see this flag.
Hurry.
(babies crying)
Get the women and
children ready.
I want 'em all out
when the time comes.
(cannon booming)
(tense music)
- All persons held as slaves
(emotional music)
within any state or
designated part of a state
are and henceforward
shall be free.
And that the executive
government of the United States
will recognize and
maintain the freedom
of said persons.
And upon this act, I invoke
the considerate judgment
of mankind and the gracious
favor of Almighty God.
Signed, Abraham Lincoln.
(cannon booming)
(dramatic music)
(Rachel crying)
(somber music)
(cannon booming)
(dramatic music)
- Come on, men.
(Rachel crying)
(baby crying)
- I will love thee oh Lord, my--
(guns firing)
- Miss Rachel!
(baby crying)
(guns firing)
(dramatic music)
(fire crackling)
(chandelier shattering)
(wind whistling)