Original subtitles

(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.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

- Mmm hmm.

- The government says again, choose our delegates.

- Sure 'nuff.

- And we did that too.

We choose our Gideon.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

- That ain't none of your business.

- Bye, Mr. Lait.

(lighthearted music)

(people chattering)

- Are you a delegate?

- Yes, sir.

- May I have your credentials please?

- 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)

- 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.

- What about the land?

- 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.

- 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)

- 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.

- 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.

- 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)

- Henry.

- Thank you.

(rifles clacking)

(birds chirping)

(emotional music)

(gentle music)

I almost wish we had put in a few acres of cotton.

- Be happy if I never see a cotton ball brick again.

- 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.

- 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)

- Fall out!

- Yah, yah!

(tree crashing)

- Come on, Will.

(tense music)

- Boys, take up there now.

- Watch his head.

- Hold his face up.

- Let's get him out of the sun, huh.

(somber music)

- Get him?

- 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?

- 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.

Carwell, block two.

- Did you get it?

- Let's get the hell outta here.

- 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)

- 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!

- 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.

- Hold your fire!

- Charge!

(men shouting)

- Hannibal fire!

- Fire!

(guns firing) (men shouting)

- 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'.

- Mornin', Brother Peter.

- Now, you children have patience outside.

There's enough breakfast for everybody.

- Good luck today.

- Shotgun.

- How do you feel?

- All right.

(birds chirping)

(baby crying)

- Ellen, why don't you try to eat a little bit.

- I don't want nothin' to eat.

- 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?

- I guess somebody's gotta go tell 'em.

- 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)

- 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.

- Sit over here.

Come on, now.

- 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)