This film is adapted from real historical events and tells the story of one of the most famous rebels in American history: Newton Knight. Knight was a native of Mississippi. During the Civil War, he defected from the Confederate Army, organized a team of soldiers, and established a country called "Jones' Free State" in his hometown. Knight not only married a black slave girl and refused to return to the Confederate Army to serve, but also liberated black slaves in Mississippi, a territory of the Confederate government. This was rare in the United States at that time, and made him a local legend in Mississippi.