4
Wednesday, June 29, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Commentary...
Rebelling against the rebellion
By Jim Cornelius
News Editor
The Blue and the Gray.
North versus South.
The American Civil War
is usually portrayed as a
regional conflict pitting two
halves of the country against
each other in a bloody conflict
over slavery and states’ rights.
The Southern states seceded
from the Union to protect
and assert their sovereignty,
led by a slave-owning class
determined to protect the cot-
ton economy. They formed
the Confederate States of
America and defied the gov-
ernment of Abraham Lincoln,
who sought to forcibly keep
the states in the Union.
That’s the picture most
people have of the Civil
War or the War Between the
States. Less well-known is
the fact that several regions in
the South essentially seceded
from the Confederacy.
“Free State of Jones,”
now playing at Sisters Movie
House, depicts one such rebel-
lion against the rebellion, in
Jones County, Mississippi. It
was led by a fierce, shotgun-
wielding backwoods badass
named Newton Knight (played
by Matthew McConaughey).
As a story in Smithsonian
Magazine recounts, “He was
a nightmarish opponent in a
backwoods wrestling match,
and one of the great unsung
guerrilla fighters in American
history. So many men tried so
hard to kill him that perhaps
his most remarkable achieve-
ment was to reach old age.”
Knight had nine chil-
dren by his wife, Serena,
before they separated — then
five more with his grandfa-
ther’s former slave, Rachel,
who lived afterward as his
common-law wife. Knight
acknowledged his mixed-race
children. The whole family,
including the ex-wife, lived
in separate houses on his 160-
acre farm in south-central
Mississippi.
Knight wasn’t exactly a
typical figure, but the Jones
County uprising he led against
state and Confederate authori-
ties was not an exceptional
occurrence. Mountainous
and/or backwoods regions
of many Confederate states
— where King Cotton never
held sway — saw high levels
of Unionist sentiment. East
Tennessee, northern Arkansas,
northern Alabama, the Hill
Country of Texas, were hot-
beds of Unionism that pro-
vided soldiers and scouts for
the U.S. army and sometimes
flared into small-scale but
very nasty guerrilla warfare.
And, of course, West
Virginia broke off from the
Old Dominion and became a
new state that exists today.
(There were also pockets
of strong pro-Confederate
sentiment in Northern territo-
ries; another tale for another
time.)
Few of the Southern
backwoods hill-country folk
owned slaves and they saw
no profit in fighting on behalf
of low-country slaveown-
ers in a “rich man’s war and
a poor man’s fight.” Some
who did enlist to fight for the
Confederacy quickly became
disillusioned and deserted.
When the Confederacy
introduced conscription and
started requisitioning food-
stuffs and livestock, well,
that hardened sentiment
considerably.
Confederate authorities
were hard-pressed to deal
with flaring insurrections
deep within their own terri-
tory. Their resources were
stretched trying to stave off
the invasion of Union armies.
Some counties and regions
became virtual no-go zones.
And, as is the nature with
guerrilla warfare, conflict
often degenerated into ban-
ditry, with rival armed gangs
sparring with each other and
looting and robbing non-com-
batant civilians.
There was nothing gentle-
manly about this aspect of the
Civil War.
The anti-Confed-
erate insurrections
across the South
were written out of
history in the after-
math of the war and
Reconstruction. The
Lost Cause myth had
no room for such
tales. The modern
Civil Rights move-
ment of the 1960s
created tremendous
photo publiC domain
anxiety and backlash
across the South and Newton knight.
hardened racial atti-
tudes even in areas that had and they don’t think it’s a big
defied the Old South’s stand. deal. That’s a huge change.
Ironically, the Confederate Some of the young guys are
Battle Flag became a frequent really identifying with Newt
sight in many of the areas that now, as a symbol of Jones
rejected the Confederacy in County pride. It doesn’t hurt
that he was such a badass.”
the 1860s.
The unusual racial politics
For decades, Newton
Knight was regarded with of the Jones County insur-
scorn in his own home county rection — along with the
— because he was a race- vividly charismatic qualities
mixer. But that is swiftly of its leader — make “Free
State of Jones” a compelling
changing.
The Smithsonian Magazine subject for a movie for our
quotes Jones County native time. And it casts a light on
and professor Wyatt Moulds: a hidden history of the great
“Blacks and whites date conflict that shaped modern
each other in high school now, America.
8 p.m.
o
t
5
,
2
y
l
u
J
m .
t 9 p.m
S aturday The Pitchtones 6 to
Serving Sisters Since 1976
Pine &
p Sherman!
Music by Big r everyone — Make a day of it in Cam
d food and fun fo
TORE
S
N
A
M
R
E
CAMP SH 00 years in time...
Goo
Come In…
Relax…Enjoy!
Tim Westcott
Ronnica Westcott
Jenny Duey
Mary Morgan
541-588-6611
220 W. Cascade Ave.
Come in, Relax, Enjoy!
SUPER
CLEARANCE!
Outcast brand
BOATS & FLOAT TUBES
They sent a double-order
by mistake, so it’s all
20% OFF
THIS WEEK ONLY
including accessories!
and
r
e
b
m
u
l
r
u
o
For all y
right
s
l
a
i
r
e
t
a
m
building
FREE
! Local
s
r
e
t
s
i
S
n
i
here
Delivery
Lumber • Hardware • Paint
Fencing & Decking • Doors & Windows
Hours: M-F 8 to 5, Sat. 8 to 4:30, Closed Sundays
440 N. Pine St. • 541-549-8141 • www.hoyts.net
NEVER SKIP AN
OPPORTUNITY TO
SMILE BIG!
Sisters Dental
is committed
to your dental
health! !
Exceptional Health,
Prevention & Aesthetics
Ben Crockett, D.D.S.
Go back 1
Adventure Camp
Registrations Open!
For Ages 5-10
Weekly, June 22 - August 14
7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
$165 full-week • Drop-in $40
Location: SPRD
Check online for full details
See SistersRecreation.com or call for details
1750 W.
W Mckinney
M ki
Butte
B
Rd.
Rd | 541
541-549-2091
549 2091
SNO CAP
MINI STORAGE
p 541-549-9486 f 541-549-9110
151 W. Main Ave., Sisters
541-549-FISH | Open 7 days a week
410 E. Cascade Ave. • P.O. Box 1027 • Sisters, Oregon 97759
Hours: Mon., 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; Tues.-Wed., 8 a.m.-4 p.m.;
Thurs., 7 a.m.-3 p.m.
541-595-6711
Sisters Industrial Park
157 Sisters Park Dr. • 541-549-3575
www.SistersStorage.com
• State-of-the-art
Security Technology
• Sizes from 5x5 to 12x40
• Individual Gate Codes
• Long-term Discounts
• On-site Manager