[CHASE] I had this dream the other night.
I was in church and they was having a funeral for me.
There was two coffins.
And both of them was me.
In one coffin was my heart, beating,
and all my veins and blood was moving around,
but with no body.
Looked like some sort of sea creature.
Then in the other coffin was my body.
Uh, skin, muscles, brain and lungs.
My eyes was empty.
The lungs were still trying to breathe.
Like... [EXHALES]
Like, wheezing-like.
A breathing body with no heart or blood on one side
and a beating heart and a box of veins and blood
with no body on the other.
And a preacher said,
"You need your prayers."
And I looked at both these parts of me and said,
"But who is he?"
[WOMAN] Who are you? What are you?
[ATMOSPHERIC MUSIC]
[JOHN] Wake up.
Are we there?
No. Uphill grade.
When the train slows down, we're gonna jump off.
♪ Hallelujah, come on, children, let's sing ♪
♪ About the goodness of the Lord ♪
♪ Come on, children, let's shout ♪
♪ All about God's rich reward ♪
♪ Guide our footsteps every day ♪
♪ Keeps us in the narrow way ♪
♪ Come on, children, let's sing ♪
♪ About the goodness of the Lord ♪
♪ Yeah, come on, children, let's sing ♪
♪ About the goodness of the Lord, mmm ♪
♪ Come on, children, let's shout ♪
♪ All about God's rich reward ♪
♪ Guide our footsteps every day ♪
♪ Keeps us in the narrow way ♪
♪ Come on, children, let's sing ♪
♪ Come on, children, let's shout ♪
♪ The Lord Almighty has brought us out ♪
♪ There's none like him without a doubt ♪
♪ Come on, children, let's sing ♪
♪ About the goodness of the Lord ♪
[JOHN] Bet you never jumped off a train before. Huh?
Isn't that fun?
See, I want them all thinking we're out west.
[ONION] Why?
[JOHN] 'Cause we're up to no good, in their eyes.
But the Lord of lords
is smiling down upon us.
[ONION] But where are we?
Pennsylvania. The Allegheny Mountains of my youth.
The Lord put forth his thumb and pressed these hills
and made these passages for the poor.
Now a small band of Negro revolutionaries
could hide out in here
and fight off an army of thousands for years.
These the first mountains I ever seen up close.
They were mine, too.
Now, Mr. Douglass,
he showed me a few tricks about putting on a show,
speechifying, so I'm gonna raise us some money
and we'll go back, get the men, carry on the fight.
- Yes, Captain. - Mm-hmm.
When I'm giving my talks,
I may ask you to testify, you know, about your life.
Deprivation and starvation as a slave,
being whipped scandalous and such.
- Dutch ain't never whipped me. - [GRUNTS]
And fed me good.
Never been cold
before sleeping in the woods with you and the boys.
Yeah, well, I-I... I-I wouldn't mention that.
And I ain't never been shot at till I met you.
No? Yeah, I wouldn't mention that, either.
Truth be told,
I ain't seen a person murdered till I met you.
I would stay off that subject
- entirely. - Mm.
[ONION] While the old man was hidded out on the plains,
he was a hero back east.
My name is Osawatomie John Brown
and I am here to fight slavery.
[ONION] They couldn't get enough of his stories.
You would've thunk that every pro-slaver,
who mostly lived off of pennies and generally didn't treat
the Negro any worse than they treated each other
was a bunch of cranks, heathens and drunks
who run around murdering one another,
while the free staters spend all day sitting in church
making paper cutout dolls on Wednesday nights.
We must defeat slavery!
If any are bound, we are all bound!
[ONION] It made me a bit sad, truth be to tell it,
to watch all them white folks crying for the Negro.
There weren't but one Negro 'sides me present.
And we both knew to be quiet as mouses.
Except for Frederick Douglass,
it seemed like everybody got to make a speech about the Negro
except the Negro.
It has been a long time since I've had any ice cream.
[BIRDS CHIRPING]
- Can we afford it? - I think we can.
I've heard some news.
Federal agents are after me.
Mm. I'm gonna need you to keep a lookout.
Well,
what does a federal agent look like?
The federal man... [INHALES SHARPLY]
He smells like... like bear.
They use bear grease
to oil their hair.
But they live indoors. They're clean. Mm-hmm.
- Sickly, pale, yellow. - Captain,
about half the white folks up north seem like that.
Mm-hmm. True.
Recognize this?
This is Frederick's old Colt.
He'd want you to have... Now be careful.
It's primed and loaded... Uh-uh.
[WHISPERS] Keep it down. There's eyes about.
Look at this. [CLEARS THROAT LOUDLY]
I'm sorry.
No need to see that...
Now, if you see a federal man while I'm...
givin' my show,
I don't want you interrupt me.
Just take out your Good Lord bird feather and wave it.
I'll know.
Course,
if they try to apprehend me, start shooting.
You want me to draw down on a federal agent?
Just... Not at first. Just fire up in the air.
- Okay. - They'll run, they'll scream,
we'll make our escape... If they arrest me,
I'm gonna need you to, point-blank, fire.
[LEE] John Brown... No, no, please! Please don't shoot.
I-I'm Deacon Lee, with First Methodist
and the Hartford Abolitionist Society?
A deacon.
And an abolitionist.
[LEE CHUCKLES]
- Yes, sir. - Pleasure.
Likewise. This is my wife
- Temperance. - Temperance.
- Hello. Pleasure. - Hmm. What a wonderful name.
[SOFT LAUGHTER]
- [LEE] If you are John Brown... - I am.
...could you spare a few words at our meeting this afternoon?
Love to.
[GASPING, LAUGHING]
Well, uh, l-let me buy you some ice cream.
[JOHN] Hello.
My name is Osawatomie John Brown
and I'm here to fight slavery!
I have been warned
that federal agents are hunting me
and that there may even be a federal man
here with us this afternoon.
[LOW CHATTER]
Federal man,
if ye be here, make yourself known!
Good. Now,
I demand the immediate emancipation
of every soul pining for freedom on American soil!
[MEN EXCLAIMING]
Those in the fields of Maryland,
the cotton plantations of Arkansas,
Louisiana, Georgia,
Alabama!
Not some, but all,
without limitations, without restrictions,
for their inalienable right
to pursue their absolute equality!
[APPLAUSE]
My grandfather,
he served with General George Washington.
- [APPLAUSE] - Yes. Thank you, thank you. Yes.
They railed against a three-penny tax on tea.
Hmm.
They used that to justify
seven years of bloody war with England.
Suspenseful music
Imagine if those men
had the cause that we have.
[MAN] They would take action.
I know: Violence, that's not what any of us want.
It's an extreme measure.
However, sometimes, a limb is sick.
It has to be excised.
If thine own eye offends thee,
pluck it out!
I am offended!
- And I will pluck it out! - [APPLAUSE]
Amen.
Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you.
Let us, let us pray.
Dear Lord, we thank you for this time together.
First I want to thank Temperance and Deacon Lee
for in-inviting me here today.
I... What fine people.
We thank whoever made those, uh, sugar cookies,
that were simply delicious.
I know God must love whoever made those,
because they are inv...
I would really like to have some more
when-when this meeting is over.
But first, let us thank the good people
of this town, the good Methodists
that are here tonight.
We feel you, Holy Savior.
We know we share one blood, we know...
Captain, I smell bear!
[PEOPLE GASPING]
You received my letters.
Indeed.
- It's Hugh Forbes. - [LAUGHS]
Hugh Forbes!
At your service, General.
It is an honor to meet the great warrior of slavery
of whom I have heard so much.
The honor is mine. All mine.
No. Mine.
[BOTH LAUGH]
It's Hugh Forbes.
Onion, you thought he was a bear!
[BOTH LAUGH]
[JOHN] I've studied your war pamphlets.
- I dare say they are excellent. - [CHUCKLES]
You're the right man for our mission.
Did you really serve under General Garibaldi?
Mm. With his legions, through his victories.
In league with your own achievements.
Oh, hardly. In-in Italy and in Brazil?
And Paraguay. Tough terrain, overwhelming forces.
- Ah. - But victory.
Oh, I love what you wrote here:
"If these hands used for fighting would be acceptable
to God, I dedicate them, uh, to all man's redemption."
- Mm-hmm. - Strong words.
Your letters convinced me of my own...
Our own destiny together, so I came at once.
- By God's grace. - Amen.
[FORBES] An expensive endeavor, but shall be worth it.
Here is your payment.
Captain...
This seems excessive, Captain Brown. [LAUGHS]
Tell me you haven't emptied your pockets.
No. No, no, here's some more.
Maybe we should keep back a bit.
[JOHN] No, no. Mr. Forbes
needs to begin his work immediately.
God will provide.
Please. Accept it.
This is to be the greatest campaign of my life:
To serve with you, General.
[JOHN] Oh, no.
- I'm but a captain... - Mm.
...serving in the army of the Prince of Peace.
Let's begin at once!
- Let us commence this evening. - [LAUGHS]
Over dinner at Keaney House,
- where I am staying. - Keaney House. Yes, yes.
I have brought regimes and schemes for you to look over.
Ah, regimes and schemes.
[JOHN AND FORBES CHUCKLE]
- Ah... - I like the way
you handle a pistol, Miss.
Tell me: Were you going to pull the trigger?
About to.
Oh!
[BOTH LAUGHING]
[FORBES] Such a scary one.
[JOHN] Watch your back.
[LAUGHING]
- All right. Fine. - Yeah.
Keaney House!
[QUIETLY] I have been writing to that man for years.
He'll train the men.
He'll help us plan.
Finally, we'll be able to ride into battle with an expert.
[CLOCK CHIMING]
- Sir. - [JOHN INHALES]
You and your girl must rent a room,
or I shall have to ask you to leave.
No, we are still waiting for our colleague.
He's a guest at this hotel; It's all right.
And who might your colleague be, then?
Mr. Hugh Forbes.
[CLEARS THROAT]
Hmm.
May...
No...
W...
I'm sorry, sir,
Mr. Hugh Forbes checked out this afternoon.
[JOHN] He did?
Yes, sir.
No, he didn't.
Yes, sir, he did.
Are you sure?
I'm quite sure.
What was the final count?
1,700, sir.
We gave it all to him?
Well you gave it all to him.
Yes, sir.
[SIGHS]
- [JOHN GROWLS] - [SCREAMS]
[YELLING]
[PANTING]
[DOOR OPENS, CLOSES]
You can always make the money back speeching again.
Lots of folks willing to part with their pocket money.
Pocket money.
Yes, sir.
Uh... a little here, a little there.
You are so right.
That's the problem.
The soul of this country
can't be bought with pocket change.
You are a gift from God,
- Little Onion. - I... I am?
Yes! It's what you said! You're right!
We need men, not money!
I said that?
Yeah, followers, not funds.
I'm such a fool.
I'm the worst kind of fool.
[EXHALES SHARPLY]
You know why God punished me?
You know why Hugh Forbes proved to be a thief?
No, sir.
Spiritual pride.
Amen.
Do you hear that?
Oh! Do you hear that?
[WHISPERING] Give me your hand. Give me your hand.
There is a hidden oneness
to the whole world, Little Onion.
And it's our job
to help the Lord illuminate that oneness.
Amen?
Amen.
[LAUGHS]
We need to go to Canada. [SNIFFS, GRUNTS]
Canada's a civilized country.
Get your things.
[GRUNTS]
Mm.
- Canada is out the back door. - See, that's the one...
[JOHN] "Every... ev..."
"God takes the side of the defenseless.
The Christian must also take the side of the defenseless.
The Christian must be justice,
- must speak justice..." - We in Canada yet?
What?
Are we in...
No. Not yet.
Another two or three days, on foot.
Oh.
So we walking all the way to Canada?
Yeah.
Our travel funds are threadbare.
"Every Negro must be free to pursue
his or her own life."
Uh-huh.
"Every Negro..."
Dammit, I am a Negro.
And I'm ready to be free.
That is the spirit, Onion.
But you are already free.
- No, I ain't. - Yes, you are.
You've been free since the day we met.
If I'm so free,
then why do I do whatever you tell me to do?
Go wherever you says.
Jumpin' off trains.
- [STAMMERS] - Eatin' scraps.
Run around like an outlaw.
Getting yanked around by an old white man?
All right, that is not slavery, Onion.
We are abolitionists.
Warriors. Pilgrims.
We're family.
Aren't we?
[ATMOSPHERIC MUSIC]
[HORSE WHINNIES]
_
[SAW CUTTING WOOD]
[WOMAN] Who wants hot bread and cider?
[HORSE SNORTS]
Hey.
Here you go.
Here, have a seat.
[GROANS]
[SIGHS]
Oh, Onion.
I owe you a long-overdue apology.
You must be missing your pa somethin' fierce.
Yeah, that's my fault.
You, uh, were living a life without choice.
I come along,
thrust freedom on you
without giving you a deciding vote
in which way your life road went.
I'm no better than Dutch Henry.
I'd like, if I could, to...
have a chance to explain to you why I done what I done.
I was just tryin' to treat you like family.
The best I could.
You know.
There comes a time,
as a parent,
when you have to let your child be free.
And sometimes, parents, we... we cling too tight.
Out of love.
I've done it to my own children.
And I've done it to you.
And I'm sorry.
Okay.
Anyhow...
here we are.
We're in Canada.
And you're free!
Free to make your own choices
and build whatever life you want.
That, right there, is a mission
run by good, Christian women.
I mean, they're-they're Catholic, but we...
we ought not be too judgmental. They're kind
and they'll look after you and...
give you a fresh start.
Oh... [LAUGHS]
That's...
how...
I really enjoyed your company.
[MELANCHOLY MUSIC]
And, um...
if freedom ever comes to America,
I hope that you will make your way to Lake Placid.
Meet my wife, meet my daughters.
Course, the... the boys are gonna miss you.
You forgive me?
Didn't you say we's all already forgiven?
The world's a pretty confusing place, Captain.
And you don't seem much more confused than most folks.
Even bein' white.
You don't gotta ask, for forgiveness from me.
[SOBS]
This is my grandmother's Bible.
The devil works hard, Little Onion,
but God works harder.
["WHERE COULD I GO BUT TO THE LORD" BY ELVIS PRESLEY]
♪ Livin' below ♪
♪ In this old, sinful world ♪
♪ Hardly a comfort ♪
♪ Can afford ♪
♪ Yet when I face ♪
♪ That chilling ♪
♪ Hand of death ♪
♪ Oh, won't you tell me ♪
♪ Where could I go ♪
Are you an orphan?
♪ But to the Lord... ♪
I guess so.
Join us.
We're going to be hearing some inspiring words.
The abolitionist John Brown
is gonna be speaking at the First Methodist.
I've already heard everything he gots to say.
♪ Could I go, could I go ♪
- ♪ Seeking the refuge ♪ - Thank you.
♪ For my soul ♪
♪ For my soul... ♪
- [APPLAUSE] - ♪ Needing a friend ♪
♪ A friend ♪
♪ To save me in the end ♪
♪ In the end ♪
♪ Won't you tell me ♪
♪ Where could I go ♪
♪ But to the Lord... ♪
- Hello. - [CROWD MURMUR GREETINGS]
My name is John Brown, and
I'm here fighting to end slavery.
[CROWD] Amen.
[JOHN] I've learned a lot about freedom
since I've come to your country.
[SIGHS]
You know, at home,
I'm wanted for murder.
Which is funny, because, uh,
for the first 50 or so years of my life,
I lived exactly as my father taught me...
Change your mind?
[JOHN] ...as a non-violent abolitionist.
Then my boys grew up;
They moved away. They wanted to start a life of their own.
Staked a claim in Kansas.
Mm-hmm. They walked and talked,
speaking as I taught them, as my father taught me,
to love thy neighbor,
- to do unto others... - [MURMURING]
...but it seems that the pro-slavers of Kansas
were not satisfied simply with raping and murdering
and enslaving Black people.
They wanted to pick a fight
with anyone who was friends with a Black man.
So they burned my sons' farms,
they destroyed their homes,
and it woke me up!
[LOUDER RESPONSE]
Now, we can't just wait.
We can't sit around idle waiting for fear,
ignorance, hatred, and stupidity
to hurt our own little ones.
[EXCLAIMING]
We're all a part of one family:
The human family.
- Ah. - [JOHN] And...
and to that end, I decided
that I was comfortable
to shed my blood with my African brothers and sisters.
I was even comfortable shedding blood for them.
- [MURMURING] - Now, for this,
I have a price on my head.
But I ask you,
do you think it's a crime for a citizen
to stand up and say
each and every one of us is imbued
by our Creator with certain
inalienable rights.
- No! - [JOHN] No!
If that's a crime,
then the Declaration of Independence
is a call for sedition
and should be burned!
- [APPLAUSE] - I say it's not a crime.
No, I say to not assert yourself
for the rights of the oppressed is to
fall down and worship
at the Moloch of despotism!
- Yes, sir! We hear you! - [INDISTINCT SHOUTS]
We must... we must join together
and form an anti-slavery movement;
Black folks, white folks,
working together, committed,
for the violence necessary to end slavery!
- Yes, sir! - [JOHN] Now, I know.
[INDISTINCT SHOUTING]
Violence is not what we want!
[EXHALES]
I know, good people of Chatham.
Oh, gentle Canada.
I have... I have tried America.
America is rife with hypocrites.
Especially the north.
[CROWD MURMURS]
Greed and slavery
has made a trembling coward
of the white man.
He is so rich
and fat and indolent,
he cannot even remember the values
upon which his country was founded!
How...
How do I... How do I talk to such a man?
How do I affect change in his heart?
I must speak to him
in a language
that he understands.
The language of violence.
- Mm-hmm. - [JOHN] Gunfire!
The sharp edge of a sword!
Come on! Yeah!
[INDISTINCT SHOUTING]
[JOHN] I am not asking
for more talk.
- No, sir. - [JOHN] I'm not asking
for money.
I'm asking for men.
Brave men!
Oh, Canada!
Do you have any men for me?
We're not afraid, Captain.
- I'm ready. - [JOHN] Oh, I hear you!
It is time
to meet the slavers
with grape, gunshot and powder!
- Come on! Yeah! - [JOHN] It is time
to smite him!
No more words!
The time for words is over!
Who wants to sign up?
Yes! Yes!
No more words! No more talk!
Now is the time.
Who wants to sign up?
Who's with me?
[COPELAND] We're all for your war on slavery,
but what's your specific plan?
Oh, well, that's...
That's... That's a very, very good qu...
That's a good question. That's understa...
I-I cannot make that announcement publicly yet.
I can... I can, uh, tell you...
[CHUCKLES] ...it will not be peaceable.
What's that spell to us?
I aim to purge America's sin with blood
and do it soon with the help of the Negro people.
[COPELAND] If you will just give us a little of your battle plan.
I can't sign a contract
- if I don't know even a bit. - [JOHN] Well, I...
[SCOFFS] Do you want to save your people or not?
[COPELAND] Captain, I escaped slavery
and traveled 3,000 miles here
on foot and by boat.
But I hold my life dear, and if I'm gonna lose it,
I want to know the manner in which it's gonna happen.
You're safe here, sir.
We're all either free men or former slaves.
Why you holding back?
[NEWBY] Fact is, we heard of you,
but we don't know you.
Now, tell us why we should we trust you.
[JOHN] I move with God's purpose.
And He whispered a battle plan in my ear
to start a war that will end slavery.
And for now,
that whisper must remain secret.
Join me.
Please, sir.
I know. I know you have the fire in you.
You have a fire in your heart, for justice, I know it!
[SCREAMS]
My work is done.
[WOMAN] Hold a minute, Captain.
Rise for the general.
You know me.
My name's Harriet Tubman.
And John Brown don't have to explain nothing to me.
If he says he has a good plan,
he has a good plan.
You got something for us?
Now, John Brown has took many a whipping
for the colored folk,
and he took it standing up.
His own wife and children starving at home.
He already offered the life of one
of his sons, Frederick, to the cause.
He here asking you to feed his children?
Hmm?
He here asking you to help him?
He asking you to help yourself.
To free yourself.
Y'all clucking like a bunch of hens.
Sitting here warm and cozy,
worrying about your own skin
while your children cry for their mothers
somewhere else right now.
[QUIET, DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Some of y'all got your brothers and sisters torn from you.
Your own families living across the border
in slavery.
That's why he's here...
...asking you freedmen to join in.
And you sitting on the doorstep of change,
lonely and too scared to walk through it.
Mr. Brown asks
who is a man here?
[ONION] I didn't want to die.
I didn't want to be hungry.
I liked somebody taking care of me.
But Miss Tubman standing there so firm and so strong
reminded me of Sibonia saying,
"I am the woman, and I am not ashamed."
Suddenly, I heard
a terrible squawking voice in the room.
Sign me up!
I'll follow the captain to the ends of the Earth.
- Count me in! - [HARRIET] Praise Jesus.
And a child will lead them.
- Yeah! - Yeah!
[HARRIET] Praise God!
[SLOW, DRAMATIC MUSIC]
My name is Lewis Leary,
and this is my cousin Attucks Copeland.
We both have engineering degrees, and we are both willing
to give our lives in the service of humanity.
Well, I like you already.
- Attucks. - [COPELAND] Yes, sir.
Nice to meet you, Attucks. And Lewis.
- Mm-hmm. - Welcome.
Dangerfield Newby.
Son of a Black slave mother, white slave owner father.
I'm better at drawing maps than anyone you met in your life.
Probably even you.
Well, we need maps.
And we need you.
O.P. Anderson.
I'm a freeborn Negro from Pennsylvania.
I've been waiting to meet you since you first fired a shot.
Well, we will fire shots together, O.P.
[CHUCKLES]
Don't you leave, now. Stay right here, okay?
Oh, are you with us, sir?
[CLEARS THROAT]
Will there be whiskey on this adventure of yours?
No, there will not.
Never mind, I will provide my own.
[CLEARS THROAT] To what the matter of, uh...
sporting women?
We are looking for men of high honor.
Uh-huh.
Well, it's a minor detail.
Uh, I was warmed by the fire in your words up there.
The Moloch of depotism!
Despotism.
[DRAMATIC GRUNT]
No more words!
- Uh-huh. - You put on a good show.
- [CHUCKLES] - [JOHN CHUCKLES]
It's poetry.
[SNIFFS] Uh...
I believe I can be the hero
in this, uh, this tragedy of yours.
What's your name?
Uh, that'd be Cook.
And, uh, and you are, again?
Sorry, I was, uh, distracted earlier.
John Brown.
Yeah.
Yeah, that rings familiar.
Yeah.
Welcome aboard.
[COOK] All right.
I will not let you down, General.
I will not.
I heard your plan.
Mr. Douglass wrote you?
Your plan is good, John.
- [JOHN] Ah, praise Jesus. - Figure out the date
that works best and let me know.
I will come with all the bees I can hive.
But once that date is set, do not change it.
Not for anything.
Of course. I will not.
- I will not. Thank you. - [MAN] Captain.
We have some questions.
I've seen you before.
In a dream.
Who are you?
What are you?
I don't rightly know.
Slavery has made a fool out of a lot of folks.
Twisted them all different kinds of ways.
I seen it happen many a time in my day.
I expect I'll see it in all our tomorrows, too.
For when you slave a person,
you slave the one in front and the one behind.
You understand me?
Yes, ma'am.
Take this.
And keep it.
It's more than a shawl.
Carries hidden meanings.
You're choosing to go back into the lion's den.
Might come in handy when you need it.
Just keep being brave the way you was today,
and do what you can to help the captain.
He's gonna need it.
Yes, General.
[JOHN SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY]
[JOHN] General.
Yes?
Thank you for speaking on my behalf.
You have the date?
I do.
[WHISPERING INDISTINCTLY]
John.
Compromise your life
before you compromise the time.
[DOOR OPENS]
[TAKES DEEP BREATH]
[DOOR CLOSES]
[QUIET, INTENSE MUSIC] _
See, the way I figure it, we make too big of a deal
out of this whole Black and white thing.
Truth be told,
there's only three kinds of people in this world:
Those who can count
and those who can't.
[LAUGHS LOUDLY]
Onion?
Could I ask you a question?
Yes, Captain.
Have you ever heard of Harpers Ferry?
- No. - Harpers Ferry, Virginia?
They make rifles there, thousands of them,
and it's only guarded by two men,
and holding enough weapons to arm 5,000.
There's only two guards,
one on either end.
We'll take them easily.
Then we cut the telegraph wires,
we move through the gate with the stolen wagons,
we load rifles between 2 and 4 a.m.,
and then...
we escape.
We cut the telegraph wires, storm the guardhouse,
load the rifles, escape right through...
here.
And then...
- ...we retreat. - [SALMON] Retreat where?
South...
...into the Blue Ridge Mountains.
And as we pull back,
planters won't be able to withstand the cost
of the Negroes leaving,
and they won't be able to sleep at night for fear.
I ran those trails as a boy.
I surveyed that land since before any of you were born.
There are thin passes, too thin for columns of men,
too steep for cannon.
A small group of dedicated, trained soldiers
can hold off an enemy for years.
It's happened many times before.
Do you know Spartacus?
We'll arm the first 5,000,
then we move through the mountains,
defeating the pro-slavers as we go.
Father, what if... what if we get these fine men killed?
Wh-What if what we are doing is wrong?
Wrong? We're not talking about right and wrong.
This country's been wrong since the beginning,
since the first Thanksgiving... Ask the Indians.
That's not what we're talking about.
We're talking about breathing life
- back into her soul. - [BOB] Old man,
the cheese has slid all the way off your biscuit.
Negroes will hive to us from near and far.
They'll hive for us.
We have the support of Frederick Douglass.
We have the blessing...
of Frederick Douglass...
And the general.
...and the general herself.
Why wouldn't they?
Frederick Douglass is coming?
Old man, you puttin' us on.
Father, I don't doubt your word
or study, but our aim has always been
to free the slave and to harass the pro-slaver.
[JOHN] Pebbles in the ocean, son.
We're no longer simply freeing slaves.
We're hiving them to fight.
Our aim...
revolution.
There are 1,200
colored people in Harpers Ferry alone.
30,000 in the surrounding 50 miles.
When they hear that we have a loaded rifle waiting for them,
we'll make friends fast.
I'm gonna need you to form the advance guard
at Harpers Ferry.
Onion...
will serve as the advance guard,
- with you, Cook. - You...
and Cook, I'm gonna need you to stake a residence
near the armory, but far from peeping eyes.
That way you can gather intelligence on the sly.
[SNORES]
[ONION] Captain,
ain't nothin' intelligent about that fella.
Hmm. He's a good talker,
and he can mix in with daily life well.
Frederick Douglass will bring thousands.
So will the general.
You just need to hive the locals.
Soldiers, pilgrims,
fellow children of God, that, in short,
is the plan.
Why not keep the fight in Kansas?
We have friends there.
- Mm, we know the land. - [JOHN] We do,
but if you wanted to kill a lion,
would you chop off its tail?
Kansas is the tail.
Virginia is its terrible head.
[NEWBY] We is ready.
- Mm-hmm. - All we need is a chance.
I know y'all is ready, but the white folks is more ready.
They got more guns, and they're gonna donate
all the bullets they have to elephant hunt
every Negro in this region
five minutes after they kill the old man!
You're talking about a lot of people dying.
Yes.
I am.
I'm talking about purging this guilty land with blood.
I'm talking about civil war.
You sure about this, Father?
As He who made me.
I'm with you all.
Unto the brink.
Me, too.
I will come if I can bring my wife.
[SOBS]
You said we were made from one blood.
It would be wrong for us to die apart.
If y'all gonna kill a lion,
then I'm gonna be there.
Well, this is a bold and outrageous plan.
[SNIFFLES, CLEARS THROAT]
I mean that in a good way.
I'm very excited. Let's do it.
- [LAUGHTER] - [JOHN] Onion...
it's not an order.
You're free to...
join the fight or not, as you wish.
[TRAIN WHEELS CLACKING]
I'm with you, Captain.
[TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWING]
[INTRO TO "SHE CAUGHT THE KATY"]
♪ She caught the Katy ♪
♪ And left me a mule To ride ♪
[HARMONICA PLAYS]
♪ She caught the Katy ♪
♪ And left me a mule ♪
♪ To ride ♪
[HARMONICA PLAYS]
♪ Well, my baby caught the Katy ♪
♪ She left me a mule to ride ♪
♪ The train pulled out ♪
♪ And I swung on behind ♪
♪ I'm crazy 'bout her ♪
♪ That hardheaded woman ♪
♪ Of mine ♪
[HARMONICA PLAYS]
♪ When my baby caught the Katy ♪
♪ Left me a mule to ride ♪
♪ The train pulled out ♪
♪ And I swung on behind ♪