The Free State of Jones: Mississippi's Longest Civil War
Fred W. Morrison Series in Southern Studies series
Sign in to keep track of books you’ve read and want to read.
Between late 1863 and mid-1864, an armed band of Confederate deserters battled Confederate cavalry in the Piney Woods region of Jones County, Mississippi. Calling themselves the Knight Company after their captain, Newton Knight, they set up headquarters in the swamps of the Leaf River, where, legend has it, they declared the Free State of Jones. The story of the Jones County rebellion is well known among Mississippians, and debate over whether the county actually seceded from the state during the war has smoldered for more than a century. Adding further controversy to the legend is the story of Newt Knight's interracial romance with his wartime accomplice, Rachel, a slave. From their relationship there developed a mixed-race community that endured long after the Civil War had ended, and the ambiguous racial identity of their descendants confounded the rules of segregated Mississippi well into the twentieth century.
Read more
Victoria Bynum traces the origins and legacy of the Jones County uprising from the American Revolution to the modern civil rights movement. In bridging the gap between the legendary and the real Free State of Jones, she shows how the legend—what was told, what was embellished, and what was left out—reveals a great deal about the South's transition from slavery to segregation; the racial, gender, and class politics of the period; and the contingent nature of history and memory.
Liked The Free State of Jones: Mississippi's Longest Civil War? Here’s where I’d start.
These suit anyone who liked The Free State of Jones: Mississippi's Longest Civil War. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.
-
The State of Jones Shares civil war, history, nonfiction -
In the Presence of Mine Enemies: The Civil War in the Heart of America, 1859-1864 Shares civil war, history, American history -
The Fall of the House of Dixie: The Civil War and the Social Revolution That Transformed the South Shares civil war, history, nonfiction -
Stealing Secrets: How a Few Daring Women Deceived Generals, Impacted Battles, and Altered the Course of the Civil War Shares civil war, nonfiction, history
“People who read The Free State of Jones: Mississippi's Longest Civil War tend to reach for these next.”
“If you want more of the same (history about american history), start with these.”
“If it was the civil war that hooked you, try one of these.”
-
Don't Know Much About the Civil War: Everything You Need to Know About America's Greatest Conflict but Never Learned
-
Blue-Eyed Child of Fortune: The Civil War Letters of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw
-
Junius and Albert's Adventures in the Confederacy: A Civil War Odyssey
-
America Aflame: How the Civil War Created a Nation
