Is the Free State of Jones factual?

Despite the film’s real-life basis and its director’s extensive research, Free State Of Jones isn’t entirely historically accurate. One major deviation from reality the movie made was in its inclusion of fictional characters.

What is the Free State of Jones real?

Free State of Jones is a 2016 American historical war film inspired by the life of Newton Knight and his armed revolt against the Confederacy in Jones County, Mississippi, throughout the American Civil War.

Is Free State based on a true story?

The American Civil War has been combed over in popular culture countless times, but the true story that inspired the new film Free State of Jones, out Friday, may still surprise some viewers.

What is on Moses head in Free State of Jones?

One of them, Moses (Mahershala Ali), endures a tall, spiked iron collar around his neck, a punishment inflicted by a slave owner for his earlier attempts at escape.

Is Moses Washington a real person?

Moses Washington (died 1865) was the leader of a group of runaway slaves who helped to form the Free State of Jones in 1862. Washington led several slaves into the swamps of Jones County, Mississippi, where they were joined by Confederate deserter Newton Knight.

How useful is the film The Free State of Jones to an historian studying slavery during the American Civil War period?

More than other recent films on the Civil War era, “The Free States of Jones” melds the racial politics of slavery with the politics of the nation’s greatest conflict. The film quickly establishes its moral order, making no bones about its objections to slavery nor its Unionist sympathies.

Why did Free State of Jones flop?

Film Review | The Biggest Failure of Free State of Jones is its Lack of Directorial Focus. While not a bad film, far from it in fact, it seems to suffer a crisis of identity more than once during its nearly 2 and a half hour running time.

What happened to Newton Knight’s first wife?

Knight withdrew from politics. By the mid-1870s, Knight had separated from his wife, Serena. He married Rachel, a freedwoman formerly held as a slave by his grandfather. In this period, Knight’s grown son, Mat (from his first wife), married Rachel’s grown daughter, Fannie, from a previous union.

Is Sumrall Free State of Jones?

William Wesley Sumrall (March 1839-29 June 1911) was a Confederate States Army soldier during the American Civil War who later deserted and joined the Free State of Jones.

Was the Free State of Jones a country?

In the spring of 1864, the Knight Company overthrew the Confederate authorities in Jones County and raised the United States flag over the county courthouse in Ellisville. The county was known as the Free State of Jones, and some say it actually seceded from the Confederacy.

Was Newton Knight a real person?

Newton Knight (November 10, 1829 – February 16, 1922) was an American farmer, soldier and Southern Unionist in Mississippi, best known as the leader of the Knight Company, a band of Confederate army deserters who resisted the Confederacy during the Civil War.