The Good Lord Bird (2020) s01e05 Episode Script
Hiving the Bees
It's a classic.
Just look this way for me.
Straighten up.
I intend to become
the most photographed American
of this century.
You want to know why?
Captured likenesses
of individuals
will be the great equalizers
of our culture.
In the North,
they will display the dignity
of the poorest.
- Just have you look over here.
- Mm-hmm.
Right that way.
In the South, there are people,
places and institutions
that would rather remain
uncovered, unrevealed,
unrealized.
This new invention will portray
the Black man's humanity
and slavery's inhumanity.
- Let me just here.
- I never smile in my portraits.
I refuse to give
the slightest credence
to the Southern caricature
of the Negro as happy.
I'm not happy.
I dress well to sit
for my portraits
and portray
my "majestic wrath,"
as some have called it.
Honestly?
I am enamored with the device.
And the device
is enamored of me.
Come on, children, let's sing
about the goodness
Of the Lord, my 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, my 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
Come on, children, let's shout
How 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
slow banjo music
Whoa.
Old Man had received a
sizeable donation to the cause
from the richest
Black woman in America,
Elizabeth A. Gloucester,
and sent me and Cook to Harpers
Ferry to start hiving the bees.
Advertise your product or brand here
Whoa, whoa.
That is a lovely sight to see.
What you doing?
Executing our mission,
little lady.
Cook was a handsome
scoundrel but a chatterbox.
- Morning.
- Owen worried
he'd spill our plans
all over Virginia.
- What are you up to over here?
- But the Old Man was convinced
- he couldn't hurt God's plan.
- My name's Cook.
Said no one'd be inclined
to believe a blowhard like him.
- Mary.
- Mary. Good morning.
I weren't so sure.
Seemed maybe the fair half
of God's creation would hear
Cook's butter tongue
as gospel truth.
Hop down, Onion,
so pretty Mary here can ride.
She says there's a place up
the road that's looking to rent.
Hop down?
Can't she walk?
You let your slave
sass you such?
You ought to belt her.
She forgets her place sometimes,
on account of
I'm such a good master.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
Mary here was
kind enough to offer
to barter with the widow Kennedy
who owns yonder farm.
Eh, she's a tight old cuss,
but I think I can get you
a good rent.
As long as it's not
too close to the road.
Remember, the Old Man said
Yeah, I-I'm sure whatever you
can negotiate will be just fine.
Now, get your Black ass
down off that seat,
lest I rip your arm off
and beat you with it.
With your permission, of course.
Of course.
The Old Man ain't gonna
like this, Cook.
Didn't the Old Man
give you a job?
Why don't you go roust the
coloreds like you been tasked?
Mary,
my slave here, uh,
is looking for some coloreds
with whom to congregate.
There's coloreds
everywhere out and about.
Just throw a stone,
and you'll hit one.
As I said before,
I'm on a very important mission.
- Oh.
- And Onion here
is in need of some coloreds
to hive.
Isn't that right, Onion?
Well, there are some
high-siddity free Negroes
wandering about town, but they
ain't really worth peanuts.
Then there's Colonel
Lewis Washington's plantation
- up the road a spell thataway.
- Hmm.
Well, what are you waiting for?
Come on.
- Good morning.
- Morning.
What's a scrawny boy
dressed up as a girl doing
roaming out here?
I'm looking for some friends.
Well, that's none
of my business.
Just go on where you came from.
Well, I'm just looking
to get the lay of the land.
It lay before you.
I was wondering
if you knowed anybody who wants
to know their letters.
Niggers got no cause to read.
Some do.
I don't know nothing about that.
What you doing here?
I said what you doing here, huh?
State your business quick, for
you in the thick lard already,
out here prowling
Colonel Washington's property
without permission.
Oh, well, I-I's lost.
Uh-huh.
What's the word?
The word?
What song you singing?
Well, I only know
Dixie songs, like
Old Coon Callaway, come on home
What is wrong with you?
Is you a runaway or not?
No. Not exactly.
Them's two answers. Which is it?
- Well
- Is you on the Gospel Train?
I come to town on a wagon.
Not the choo choo train, child.
The Underground Railroad.
I's here to hive the bees.
- Hive the what?
- The bees.
Look, I come to warn you,
something's about to kick off
down at the Ferry.
Why is you dressed like a sissy?
You look mighty queer, child.
If I was to tell you
something big's coming,
would you be akin
to rousing the hive?
Gathering the colored folks up.
You weeding a bad hoe for
satisfaction, talking that way.
If I was your pa, I'd warm those
little cakes with a switch
and send you hooting
and hollering down the road.
Now, is you
with the cause or not?
I's with John Brown.
Old John Brown is dead
in Kansas country.
Got a man in church read it
right out the newspaper.
Shot dead in the river.
He ain't dead.
John Brown's alive,
and he's coming
to free all the slaves.
You got the lying condition.
I ain't lying. I can prove it.
Like I says to the lady before,
I knows my letters.
I could read a letter from
John Brown proving he's alive.
That lady you was popping off to
about reading, she's my wife.
And she ain't
with the Gospel Train.
You talking into the ears
of the wrong folks,
lying about Old John Brown
is coming.
I-I swear 'fore God,
he's coming.
What the devil's wrong with you?
To stand there and lie like that
in God's hearing?
You'll get every Negro
around here throwed in hot water
talking that way.
You best watch your words.
Stay off Colonel
Washington's property.
Get!
Slow, somber music
Excuse me.
Like when any new fool
arrives in a prison camp,
word spreads fast.
Excuse me, sir.
And the word on me was not kind.
Scatter thee, varmint.
I ain't got nothing to do
with you and your kind.
You gonna get us all murdered.
Read this.
"Dear Rufus,
Please give my coachman Jim
four ladles and two spoons
from your store, and make sure
he doesn't eat any more
store-bought biscuits from you.
He's fat enough as it is.
Signed, Lewis Washington."
Goddamn that elephant-faced
old bugger.
Never done a day's work
and feeding me
boiled grits and sour biscuits.
What-what did he expect?
You weren't lying
about one thing.
But if what you say is true,
if Old John Brown is coming,
why'd he send a sissy
to do a man's job?
Ask him yourself when he comes.
John Brown's gonna
curdle your cheese
for treating me like a liar.
Either you is lying
or you is not.
It's hard to figure
Old John Brown, hot as he is,
gonna come here where all
these weapons and soldiers is
to fight for
the coloreds' freedom.
He a brave man if he living,
but he ain't a straight fool.
He putting his head
right in the lion's mouth.
Well, the Old Man said
to kill a lion,
you chop off its head,
not its tail.
I came to see your master.
Ain't you gonna invite me in?
Master asleep.
He don't like to be disturbed.
Uh-huh.
Well, I was looking for someone.
Miss Mary.
You seen her round?
I don't know nobody
by that name.
You're lying like horse dung
laying in the middle
of the road.
Now, I heard that she's been
hanging around this house
all week with your master.
So I'm gonna ask you again.
Do you know my brother's wife
Mary Huffmaster?
No, ma'am. But I'll be sure
to tell Mr. Cook you came by.
Hey.
I live right across the road,
and I can see
your porch from mine.
And I know you's a liar.
Cook, we is in hot water
with the neighbors.
You gots to do your part!
I hear you, Onion!
Won't be long now.
Oh! Oh, Mary!
Oh, Mary! Oh!
Never gamble
if you can't afford it.
Luckily, we can.
Another rule,
when playing with a stranger:
don't walk away from the wash.
Watch the man do it.
That's where
all the cheating starts.
Pull some money out of the box.
Ooh! Fun game.
Seven pull.
Flip.
Negro at the station
asking about you today.
About me?
- Mm-hmm.
- Why?
I told him I was
the captain's man,
but you're the one he wants.
Hmm. Can you bring him here?
No. Said the railman
won't come here.
Too dangerous.
The coloreds here
are certainly
distrustful.
Hmm. Will you come with me?
No.
No, he said for you
to come alone.
Suspenseful music
Take an hour to get
the steam up. Maybe two.
That's all the time I got.
You the railman?
Don't matter who I am.
Matter who you is.
I'm a messenger.
So was Jesus, but you didn't
see him running around
in a skirt and bloomer panties.
All you need to know is
I was sent here by John Brown
to hive the bees.
You come to the wrong town.
Ain't but 1,200 colored here.
And a good number of them
is women and children.
The rest?
Shit.
How come Old John Brown
didn't go
60 miles east to Baltimore?
Or Washington?
Even the eastern shore
of Maryland?
Them colored there
read the paper.
They got boats, guns.
Some of them's watermen.
People who can move people.
That would have been
sugar in his bowl.
But here?
We's outnumbered, on all sides,
by whites in every county.
There's guns here.
That's why he's coming.
He wants the guns from
the armory to arm the colored.
- It's a surprise attack.
- Please.
Ain't no surprise.
Never liked the idea
from the moment I heard it.
These niggers around here
wouldn't know a rifle
from a load of greens.
They can't handle
nobody's rifle.
Where'd you hear it?
The general.
That's why I'm here.
Is the general coming?
I hope not.
She'll get her head blowed off.
And your captain,
I pray for him every night,
but he gonna go home in pieces
along with whatever colored
stupid enough to follow him.
I got a wife and three kids
in bondage here.
I only saved up enough
to get one out.
A decision
no man should have to make.
But the general say
this will get them all out
free and clear.
How many's in his army?
Last count, 16 or so.
Shit.
That ain't hardly
enough for dice.
Give me the rest of the plan.
The attack's in four weeks.
The captain's men will grab
the night watchman.
Then you come in.
We need you to deliver slaves
from all around to fight.
Where do he expect me to get
these slaves from? Africa?
Well, you a big wheel
on the Underground, ain't you?
Running one or two souls across
the freedom line to Philadelphia
is one thing.
Getting 200 souls
out of Baltimore and D.C.,
that's something else.
Well, what do I tell
the Old Man?
Pass word to him thusly:
there's hundreds of colored
in Baltimore and D.C.
itching for a chance
to fight slavery.
We just got to get word fast,
and I know just how to do it.
Some boys in Baltimore
run a numbers game.
Negroes both in bondage and free
gambles on it.
I plays myself.
Now, if the Old Man could grease
the palm of the numbers man,
they'd spread word faster
than wildfire.
If there's a penny
in it for them
that's all they care about.
How much money we talking?
500 ought to do it.
$500?
Pass word to the Old Man.
Let him decide on it.
I'll roust some wagons
and horses, too.
I'll be back for your answer
next time I come through.
Hold on.
400
Five.
Intriguing music
There's the Old Man's answer.
Ain't going down,
ain't going down
Ain't going down
In that lonesome valley
Ain't going down,
ain't going down
Ain't going down
in that lonesome valley
Jesus
Will save my soul
Jesus will save
My soul
- Ain't going down
- Ain't going down
Ain't going down
Ain't going down
Ain't going down
in that lonesome valley
- Ain't going down
- Ain't going down
Ain't going down
Ain't going down
Get your hands off me!
You gots to go now!
Is my husband back?
What's going on?
What's going on? Onion!
Jesus will save my soul
Jesus will save my soul
"My peace I give to you.
I do not give
the way the world gives.
Let your heart not be troubled.
Do not be afraid."
- John 14.
- Hmm.
What a fine young woman
you've grown into.
I take it you been shy
speaking on our business?
Quiet as a mouse.
This is not the lodging
I requested.
It's too far from the Ferry,
too close to the road.
There wasn't much
to rent, Captain.
It'll suffice.
The army's coming.
Tell him we're here!
Upbeat music
Thank God I'm free
of that coffin.
Just about lost my marbles
- being trapped back there.
- It weren't no fun
smelling you for the last
20 miles, neither.
Get in there. Get some water,
get some water. All right.
You look different.
- What you mean?
- Uglier.
Older. I don't know, it's hard
to tell in that dress.
Follow the drinking gourd
Well, the riverbank
makes a mighty good road
Dead trees will show you the way
Left foot, peg foot
Carrying on
Follow the drinking gourd
You must be Onion.
My father has told me
so much about you.
It's such a pleasure
to meet you.
All right, come on.
- You two met?
- Yes, Father.
Dry up, boys.
Hey, listen!
Here are the rules.
We stay hiding upstairs
during the day.
We do our privy business
at night.
You stay out of the front yard
at all times.
We got nosy neighbors already.
Now, if somebody
comes to the door,
it's me or another Brown
who answers.
Now, if you need to holler,
do it during thunder or such.
All right, gentlemen,
let's skedaddle.
Grab your belongings.
We're staying upstairs.
Upstairs! Let's go. Come on.
I need to sit for a spell.
Rest, Martha.
Oh, good. Onion, help me
spread these maps out.
Put it on the table there.
It seems Mr. Cook
deemed it necessary
to canvass the neighbors
in an intimate fashion.
Do you think he held his tongue?
More or less, Captain,
- but not to the limit.
- Doesn't matter.
Soon, the whole army
will be assembled,
the day will arrive,
and we'll go to arms.
Give me the full report
on how the hiving's going.
It's going, Captain.
I gived the railman
the money you gave us
to collect the coloreds.
Oh, praise God, praise God. Oh!
Hiving of the coloreds
is the most important part
of our strategy.
They're gonna come
by the thousands, no doubt.
- We have to be ready. Oh
- Good morning, Daddy.
Good morning. Here.
Annie is going to
recommence your schooling.
Hmm? Teach you the-the great
books, as well as the Bible.
Thought there were
no greater books than the Bible.
Do you hear that?
The angels sing
your praise, Onion.
There's also Emerson,
Thoreau, Shakespeare.
I brought a little collection.
Oh, wonderful. Wonderful.
Annie's also gonna help
teach you in the ways
of feminine hygiene,
as I imagine your time
may be upon us.
If it hasn't come already?
I'd never met a girl
like Annie Brown.
Fact is, up to that point,
I'd never met
any woman who weren't
a low-down dirty stinker
that drank rotgut
and was trying to swindle a man
out of his last two cents.
Annie weren't nothing like that.
No, sir.
We done cleaned everything
in this place.
Let's take our ease
Not everything.
"Face, feet, pits and privates."
That's what Mama always said.
Your mama, she is too much.
I'll fetch some more water.
Oh, no, the tub's full.
Annie, you go first.
Uh Are you sure, Martha?
Onion, do you want to go first?
- No.
- Oh, come on, Onion.
You can go next.
I don't like the water too hot.
It's not good for the baby.
Intriguing music
You have lost your mind.
This water is perfect.
You're carrying low.
Must be a girl.
I don't know.
It's moving so much,
I think it's a boy.
If it is, course, Salmon's gonna
want to name him John.
But I think "Horace"
is a beautiful name.
Mm Horace is a boy
with a big nose.
Mm, I like "Henry."
Oh, "Henry" is nice.
What other names do we like?
Onion.
You should get undressed.
I-I don't need no bath.
Oh, are you a shy thing?
Yes. I is shy.
I appreciate your understanding,
but I have never undressed
around white folks,
being colored and all.
Oh, don't be silly.
Get over here.
Take your clothes off.
Oh, come on. Don't be a goose.
Take your clothes off.
We'll wash you up good.
Get-get over here.
Onion.
Mrs. Huffmaster?
Good morning.
We weren't expecting visitors
to call so soon.
You must be Miss Huffmaster.
Onion has told me
so much about you.
My name is Annie Morgan,
and, uh, it's a pleasure
to make your acquaintance.
All right, I came here
to call on Mr. Cook,
but he never seems to be around.
Only just that colored.
So, is he here now?
Uh, I'm afraid
I-I haven't seen him.
My He works
for my father as a miner,
and he comes and goes.
Well, I heard that he worked
at the tavern at night.
He's got a job as a miner, too?
I suppose he has two jobs.
These are hard times, after all.
Anyways, I'd happily pass along
a message for you if I see him.
Well, he has been running around
with my sister-in-law
Mary Huffma
Oh, dear.
Have you seen him with her?
Well, uh,
uh no, I ain't
caught 'em yet.
But I heard the rumors.
And my brother is due home
any day now,
and he will come over here,
and he will tear
this place apart.
You don't know his temper.
Rumors are the devil's work,
Mrs. Huffmaster.
Remember Proverbs:
"The words of a whisperer
are like delicious morsels;
they get down into
the inner parts of the body
and become foul."
Here. Please,
try to nourish yourself
with more than
the wicked words of others.
Well, have a good day, Annie.
Slow, somber music
Look straight ahead.
We spent hours reading
the Bible and the great books,
and I come to enjoy our talks.
For even though
I was living the lie,
it come to me this way.
Nobody sees the real you.
Nobody knows who you are inside.
You's judged on the outside.
Mulatto, colored, Black
It don't matter.
You just a Negro to the world.
But somehow, sitting there
with Annie on that porch,
conversating
and looking at stars,
I come to understand
that your outer covering
didn't count so much
as folks thunk.
Who do you want to be?
I mean, when all this is over
and the Negro is free.
Well
I enjoys music,
and I like to sing,
so maybe I'll buy a fiddle
and sing songs
for the rest of my days.
My Henrietta.
How could you not tell me
that you can sing?
Well, why, you never ask.
True.
Can you sing for me now?
Something about the Lord.
Well
Michael, row your boat ashore
Hallelujah
Michael
- Row your boat ashore
- Row the boat ashore
Hallelujah
River Jordan is chilly and cold
Hallelujah
Chills the body but not the soul
- Hallelu
- Hallelujah
That song is so beautiful,
it gives me butterflies.
Hmm.
Can I tell you something?
I dream of starting a school.
And teaching poor kids
White and Black
To learn to read and write.
You could open it with me.
You could teach music.
And I could help
teach letters, too.
I knows mine real good,
thanks to your brothers.
Onion, would you were a boy,
I would marry you.
Onion, come on over here.
I need to talk to you.
What you think you're doing
with Annie Brown?
Nothing.
Don't look like nothing to me.
You don't know nothing
about her.
I knows she's white.
I know she's
the captain's daughter.
And I knows you ain't a girl.
That's all I need to know.
Mind your own business, Bob.
You watch yourself, Onion.
Your mustache is
starting to come in,
and Annie wouldn't be
so sweet on you
if she found out
what kind of liar you is.
Slow, somber music
Oh, Annie.
I was wondering if you could
ans-answer a question.
Of course, I can do my best.
I was just in a prayer
- Oh, were you?
- Do-do you pray?
- I pray.
- Of course you do.
You're an angel.
Now, I have a question
I was curious about.
My name is Henry Shackleford.
My name is Frederick Douglass.
"It is easier to build
strong children
than repair broken men."
I am for you, Rosalind.
And so am I for no woman.
Well, if this be so,
why blame you me to love you?
Why speak you, "Why blame
you me to love you?"
I will say again,
I am for you, Rosalind.
I pray you, no more of this.
'Tis like the howling
of the Irish wolves
against the moon!
I would love you if I could.
I would marry you if ever
I married a woman.
- I would satisfy you.
- Oh
I would content you
if what pleases you
contents you,
but I'll say it again,
I am for no woman.
Shh
I'll be right out.
Mrs. Huffmaster.
Oh, I'm sorry, but I'm afraid
we're not prepared for visitors.
Would you like some lemonade?
- I'll be happy to get you some.
- No. Ain't thirsty.
All right.
How may I help you, then?
What exactly are
you doing today?
I'm cooking.
Oh. And laundry, too?
That's a lot of shirts
hanging on that back line.
Yes, well,
my father and brothers
have quite a few shirts,
and they change 'em
once or twice a week,
so they keep me busy
with the washing.
Horrible, isn't it?
Oh, 'deed it is,
especially when one shirt
will last my husband
two to three weeks.
What is it
your father does again?
My father's a miner.
And a few of his men live and
work here, but you know that.
Oh.
And Mr. Cook,
he sure do have a way
with the girls, don't he?
Especially since he's
romancing my brother's Mary.
He work at the mine, too?
Yes, he does.
Mm-hmm.
So he's working days
at the depot,
and then talking big
at the tavern
at night at the Ferry.
I don't know
Mr. Cook's business,
but he is a dandy talker,
isn't he?
Sometimes I think he keeps his
mouth open so much of the day
with his yammering on, he gets
flies stuck in his teeth.
And, uh,
this nigger here,
she a slave or free?
This is Henrietta,
and she's like
a member of the family.
Mm-hmm.
I am in bondage, missus,
but a happier person
in this world, you cannot find.
I didn't ask if
you was happy, nigger.
- Yes, ma'am.
- But if you is in bondage,
then why is it that you're
hanging 'bout the railroad,
trying to roust the niggers up?
Because that's the talk
around town about you.
I-I done no such thing.
Is you lying, nigger?
Henrietta is a dear friend
of mine, Mrs. Huffmaster,
and I don't appreciate you
speaking to her
in such an unkind manner.
Oh.
You can talk to your niggers
however you like,
but you best get
your story straight.
My husband was at the tavern,
and he overheard Mr. Cook say
that your papa, he is not
a miner or a slave owner at all.
He's an abolitionist.
And that the darkies
are planning something big.
So,
your nigger says
that you're slave owners.
Mr. Cook says you're not.
Which is it?
You are not privy to our lives,
Mrs. Huffmaster,
because it is
none of your business.
You got a smart mouth
for someone so young.
I would thank you
to step off my porch,
and do it quickly,
or I'll help you to it.
My father will be angry with me.
You did great.
Thank you, Onion.
I was scared
she was gonna hug me again.
She was a strong,
kind, courageous woman,
and if she pressed up
against me again,
she'd have felt the love
busting out of me,
and she'd have knowed
I was a man.
Much has been said
about the last meeting
between the Old Man
and Mr. Douglass.
I've heard many variations.
But, truth be to tell it,
there weren't but me
and a handful of grown men there
when the whole thing happened.
The Old Man gived
Mr. Douglass the whole deal:
the plan, the attack,
securing the weapons,
the colored flocking
to his stead,
the army hiding
in the mountains,
white and colored together,
holing up in
the mountain passes so tight
that the Federals and militia
couldn't get in.
And then we make our escape
into the Blue Ridge Mountains.
What have I said
to make you think
that such a plan will work?
You are walking
into a steel trap.
This is the United States Armory
you are talking about.
We talked about this. You wrote
me that it could be done.
I-I planned it to the limit.
No, I said no such thing.
You wrote to me. You s
I said that it should be done.
But what should be
and what could be
are two very different
things, John.
Frederick
we must hive the bees.
When they hear
that you have taken
the nation's largest armory
and are handing out rifles,
every slave will come
and claim their liberty.
We stand at a moment
that may change the world.
Yes.
But not by suicide.
Maybe you just ain't up for it.
Maybe you done had
too many highballs,
meat jellies,
and boiled pigeons.
Now, maybe you're just a
a man of parlor talk.
Parlor talk a-and
fancy silk shirts, of course.
Or maybe I intend
to win this war
and not die a martyr.
No, no.
How can you rest upon a reed
so weary and broken?
In nature, a hunted animal
sometimes finds a place
to stop and take its stand.
I have found such a place.
We will begin the fight
at Harpers Ferry.
No, the battle will end
at Harpers Ferry, John.
You are a respected man.
You are loved, revered.
Yes, and you are a fanatic.
I am a realist.
Right. And the Lord makes us
in all kinds, so that
so that if we work together,
we can achieve the impossible.
Come with me, Frederick.
I will defend you with my life.
When we strike,
the bees will swarm,
but they won't swarm for me.
They'll swarm for love.
They'll swarm for you.
I cannot do it.
Slow, somber music
Well, then, I'll take my leave.
Good luck, old friend.
Well
I guess I'm gonna go
with the Old Man, then.
Are you serious?
Yeah.
Think it's my time
to take a stand, too.
The captain took
Frederick Douglass's news
across the ribs,
knowing he was done in.
He knowed he was gonna lose
fighting for the Negro,
on account of the Negro.
And he brung himself
to it anyway.
For he trusted the Lord's word.
- Thank you.
- Yeah.
Captain
something in my heart
tells me that God's with us.
You're so kind.
I guess we all have
those moments, hmm,
when the cotton turns yellow
and the boll weevil
eats your crops,
and you're just
shook down to your core
with disappointment.
- That's what I'm feeling?
- Mm.
If you reach down and touch
you touch that disappointment,
you can feel God
opening the doors of your heart.
Here.
Even as I found God,
God was telling me
to get the hell out of there.
Frederick had wronged
the Old Man something terrible.
There weren't no way
Mr. Douglass
could've brung hisself
to fight a real war.
He was a speechifying
parlor man.
Some things in this world
just ain't meant to be.
And that's a heavy load to bear.
But turns out
that weren't the worst
of our problems.
I'm sorry, Daddy, Mrs.
Huffmaster told the sheriff
we're abolitionists
harboring runaways.
He'll be here with his deputies
to search the property.
How much time do we have?
I reckon the sheriff
will be here
by sundown tomorrow night.
- Captain, let's do it now.
- What are we supposed to do?
Why don't we just
wait till spring?
No, we have to call it off.
Yeah, it's not the
worst idea that you've ever had.
It is not the worst idea
Silence!
We have to move up
the date of the attack.
- Wh-What?
- When?
Isn't that the one thing
the general told us not to do?
Tomorrow. Tomorrow night.
By the time the sheriff
gets here, we'll be gone.
Mm. We attack Harpers Ferry
tomorrow night.
No, we cannot
pull this off in time.
Why don't we just
kill the sheriff?
Onion, I know
I've asked a lot of you,
but the cause needs you now
more than ever.
You go to the railman.
You tell him to roust
whomever he can.
We're moving tomorrow night.
Go, go, go. I believe in you.
Go, go.
Go, go, go, go, Onion!
Slow, tense music
What you doing here?
I got a message
from the captain.
Change of plans.
We rolling tomorrow night.
Tomorrow night?
Why would he do
a fool thing like that?
Don't worry about why.
Worry about bringing
who you can.
I just got the ball rolling.
That ain't my problem.
If I hear one more
cockeyed word out of that
fast little hole in your face,
I'll throw you in the river.
I'm just telling you
what the Old Man said.
Yeah.
You're just a messenger,
ain't you?
Everything is simple
to a sissy snit like you.
Can I tell the captain
he can count on you?
Shit, I thought I had a month.
I don't know if I can round
all them people up
by tomorrow night.
I'll do what I can.
Stop the train
before the bridge.
I'll get out,
see what the trouble is.
I'll need a password
from the captain's man.
A password?
A-a-a sign, a word.
A signal to me
to let the slaves off to fight.
It's got to be something normal.
I'll say, "Who goes there?"
Whoever there say,
"Jesus is walking."
Can you remember that?
"Who goes there?"
"Jesus is walking."
Get.
The place was rolling
like a military fort under fire.
The fellas were so relieved
to get moving,
having been crushed
in that tiny space so long,
it was a pity.
Everyone moving
with such a purpose,
I never even got a chance
to say goodbye to the Old Man.
Onion.
Come on, let's go.
Captain wants you to go back
with Salmon, Martha and Annie
- to the homestead.
- Why?
We don't have time to argue.
Annie, come here.
Thank you.
Goodbye, Annie.
Love you!
Michael, row
The boat ashore
Hallelujah
Michael, row the boat ashore
- Hallelujah
-I think you'll like
North Elba.
It's quiet country.
Free country.
Free to sing your songs.
Have faith, lest you drown.
As long as Peter had faith,
he wasn't liable to drown
on his way walking
over the water to Jesus.
- Stop the wagon! Stop the wagon!
- Quiet, Onion! Stay down!
Onion, what's gotten into you?
- Stop the wagon!
- Onion!
"Jesus is walking."
The thought of the captain
dead and on account of me
Made me feel worse than Annie
being disgusted with me
A nigger playing a girl,
not man enough to love her.
I couldn't stand it.
"Michael, Row the Boat
Ashore" by Joe and Eddie
Michael, row
the boat ashore, hallelujah
I'm a man, a-and I love you,
Annie Brown.
And I won't ever see you again.
Michael, row the boat ashore
Hallelujah
Onion.
Michael, row the boat ashore
Onion!
Hallelujah
Onion!
Onion, I know!
Sister, help to trim the sails
Hallelujah
Sister, help to trim the sails
Hallelujah
Michael, row the boat ashore
Hallelujah
Michael, row the boat ashore
Hallelujah
Sister and brother,
won't you lend a hand
Hallelujah
Let's get this ship
to the promised land
Hallelujah
Michael, row the boat ashore
Just look this way for me.
Straighten up.
I intend to become
the most photographed American
of this century.
You want to know why?
Captured likenesses
of individuals
will be the great equalizers
of our culture.
In the North,
they will display the dignity
of the poorest.
- Just have you look over here.
- Mm-hmm.
Right that way.
In the South, there are people,
places and institutions
that would rather remain
uncovered, unrevealed,
unrealized.
This new invention will portray
the Black man's humanity
and slavery's inhumanity.
- Let me just here.
- I never smile in my portraits.
I refuse to give
the slightest credence
to the Southern caricature
of the Negro as happy.
I'm not happy.
I dress well to sit
for my portraits
and portray
my "majestic wrath,"
as some have called it.
Honestly?
I am enamored with the device.
And the device
is enamored of me.
Come on, children, let's sing
about the goodness
Of the Lord, my 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, my 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
Come on, children, let's shout
How 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
slow banjo music
Whoa.
Old Man had received a
sizeable donation to the cause
from the richest
Black woman in America,
Elizabeth A. Gloucester,
and sent me and Cook to Harpers
Ferry to start hiving the bees.
Advertise your product or brand here
Whoa, whoa.
That is a lovely sight to see.
What you doing?
Executing our mission,
little lady.
Cook was a handsome
scoundrel but a chatterbox.
- Morning.
- Owen worried
he'd spill our plans
all over Virginia.
- What are you up to over here?
- But the Old Man was convinced
- he couldn't hurt God's plan.
- My name's Cook.
Said no one'd be inclined
to believe a blowhard like him.
- Mary.
- Mary. Good morning.
I weren't so sure.
Seemed maybe the fair half
of God's creation would hear
Cook's butter tongue
as gospel truth.
Hop down, Onion,
so pretty Mary here can ride.
She says there's a place up
the road that's looking to rent.
Hop down?
Can't she walk?
You let your slave
sass you such?
You ought to belt her.
She forgets her place sometimes,
on account of
I'm such a good master.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
Mary here was
kind enough to offer
to barter with the widow Kennedy
who owns yonder farm.
Eh, she's a tight old cuss,
but I think I can get you
a good rent.
As long as it's not
too close to the road.
Remember, the Old Man said
Yeah, I-I'm sure whatever you
can negotiate will be just fine.
Now, get your Black ass
down off that seat,
lest I rip your arm off
and beat you with it.
With your permission, of course.
Of course.
The Old Man ain't gonna
like this, Cook.
Didn't the Old Man
give you a job?
Why don't you go roust the
coloreds like you been tasked?
Mary,
my slave here, uh,
is looking for some coloreds
with whom to congregate.
There's coloreds
everywhere out and about.
Just throw a stone,
and you'll hit one.
As I said before,
I'm on a very important mission.
- Oh.
- And Onion here
is in need of some coloreds
to hive.
Isn't that right, Onion?
Well, there are some
high-siddity free Negroes
wandering about town, but they
ain't really worth peanuts.
Then there's Colonel
Lewis Washington's plantation
- up the road a spell thataway.
- Hmm.
Well, what are you waiting for?
Come on.
- Good morning.
- Morning.
What's a scrawny boy
dressed up as a girl doing
roaming out here?
I'm looking for some friends.
Well, that's none
of my business.
Just go on where you came from.
Well, I'm just looking
to get the lay of the land.
It lay before you.
I was wondering
if you knowed anybody who wants
to know their letters.
Niggers got no cause to read.
Some do.
I don't know nothing about that.
What you doing here?
I said what you doing here, huh?
State your business quick, for
you in the thick lard already,
out here prowling
Colonel Washington's property
without permission.
Oh, well, I-I's lost.
Uh-huh.
What's the word?
The word?
What song you singing?
Well, I only know
Dixie songs, like
Old Coon Callaway, come on home
What is wrong with you?
Is you a runaway or not?
No. Not exactly.
Them's two answers. Which is it?
- Well
- Is you on the Gospel Train?
I come to town on a wagon.
Not the choo choo train, child.
The Underground Railroad.
I's here to hive the bees.
- Hive the what?
- The bees.
Look, I come to warn you,
something's about to kick off
down at the Ferry.
Why is you dressed like a sissy?
You look mighty queer, child.
If I was to tell you
something big's coming,
would you be akin
to rousing the hive?
Gathering the colored folks up.
You weeding a bad hoe for
satisfaction, talking that way.
If I was your pa, I'd warm those
little cakes with a switch
and send you hooting
and hollering down the road.
Now, is you
with the cause or not?
I's with John Brown.
Old John Brown is dead
in Kansas country.
Got a man in church read it
right out the newspaper.
Shot dead in the river.
He ain't dead.
John Brown's alive,
and he's coming
to free all the slaves.
You got the lying condition.
I ain't lying. I can prove it.
Like I says to the lady before,
I knows my letters.
I could read a letter from
John Brown proving he's alive.
That lady you was popping off to
about reading, she's my wife.
And she ain't
with the Gospel Train.
You talking into the ears
of the wrong folks,
lying about Old John Brown
is coming.
I-I swear 'fore God,
he's coming.
What the devil's wrong with you?
To stand there and lie like that
in God's hearing?
You'll get every Negro
around here throwed in hot water
talking that way.
You best watch your words.
Stay off Colonel
Washington's property.
Get!
Slow, somber music
Excuse me.
Like when any new fool
arrives in a prison camp,
word spreads fast.
Excuse me, sir.
And the word on me was not kind.
Scatter thee, varmint.
I ain't got nothing to do
with you and your kind.
You gonna get us all murdered.
Read this.
"Dear Rufus,
Please give my coachman Jim
four ladles and two spoons
from your store, and make sure
he doesn't eat any more
store-bought biscuits from you.
He's fat enough as it is.
Signed, Lewis Washington."
Goddamn that elephant-faced
old bugger.
Never done a day's work
and feeding me
boiled grits and sour biscuits.
What-what did he expect?
You weren't lying
about one thing.
But if what you say is true,
if Old John Brown is coming,
why'd he send a sissy
to do a man's job?
Ask him yourself when he comes.
John Brown's gonna
curdle your cheese
for treating me like a liar.
Either you is lying
or you is not.
It's hard to figure
Old John Brown, hot as he is,
gonna come here where all
these weapons and soldiers is
to fight for
the coloreds' freedom.
He a brave man if he living,
but he ain't a straight fool.
He putting his head
right in the lion's mouth.
Well, the Old Man said
to kill a lion,
you chop off its head,
not its tail.
I came to see your master.
Ain't you gonna invite me in?
Master asleep.
He don't like to be disturbed.
Uh-huh.
Well, I was looking for someone.
Miss Mary.
You seen her round?
I don't know nobody
by that name.
You're lying like horse dung
laying in the middle
of the road.
Now, I heard that she's been
hanging around this house
all week with your master.
So I'm gonna ask you again.
Do you know my brother's wife
Mary Huffmaster?
No, ma'am. But I'll be sure
to tell Mr. Cook you came by.
Hey.
I live right across the road,
and I can see
your porch from mine.
And I know you's a liar.
Cook, we is in hot water
with the neighbors.
You gots to do your part!
I hear you, Onion!
Won't be long now.
Oh! Oh, Mary!
Oh, Mary! Oh!
Never gamble
if you can't afford it.
Luckily, we can.
Another rule,
when playing with a stranger:
don't walk away from the wash.
Watch the man do it.
That's where
all the cheating starts.
Pull some money out of the box.
Ooh! Fun game.
Seven pull.
Flip.
Negro at the station
asking about you today.
About me?
- Mm-hmm.
- Why?
I told him I was
the captain's man,
but you're the one he wants.
Hmm. Can you bring him here?
No. Said the railman
won't come here.
Too dangerous.
The coloreds here
are certainly
distrustful.
Hmm. Will you come with me?
No.
No, he said for you
to come alone.
Suspenseful music
Take an hour to get
the steam up. Maybe two.
That's all the time I got.
You the railman?
Don't matter who I am.
Matter who you is.
I'm a messenger.
So was Jesus, but you didn't
see him running around
in a skirt and bloomer panties.
All you need to know is
I was sent here by John Brown
to hive the bees.
You come to the wrong town.
Ain't but 1,200 colored here.
And a good number of them
is women and children.
The rest?
Shit.
How come Old John Brown
didn't go
60 miles east to Baltimore?
Or Washington?
Even the eastern shore
of Maryland?
Them colored there
read the paper.
They got boats, guns.
Some of them's watermen.
People who can move people.
That would have been
sugar in his bowl.
But here?
We's outnumbered, on all sides,
by whites in every county.
There's guns here.
That's why he's coming.
He wants the guns from
the armory to arm the colored.
- It's a surprise attack.
- Please.
Ain't no surprise.
Never liked the idea
from the moment I heard it.
These niggers around here
wouldn't know a rifle
from a load of greens.
They can't handle
nobody's rifle.
Where'd you hear it?
The general.
That's why I'm here.
Is the general coming?
I hope not.
She'll get her head blowed off.
And your captain,
I pray for him every night,
but he gonna go home in pieces
along with whatever colored
stupid enough to follow him.
I got a wife and three kids
in bondage here.
I only saved up enough
to get one out.
A decision
no man should have to make.
But the general say
this will get them all out
free and clear.
How many's in his army?
Last count, 16 or so.
Shit.
That ain't hardly
enough for dice.
Give me the rest of the plan.
The attack's in four weeks.
The captain's men will grab
the night watchman.
Then you come in.
We need you to deliver slaves
from all around to fight.
Where do he expect me to get
these slaves from? Africa?
Well, you a big wheel
on the Underground, ain't you?
Running one or two souls across
the freedom line to Philadelphia
is one thing.
Getting 200 souls
out of Baltimore and D.C.,
that's something else.
Well, what do I tell
the Old Man?
Pass word to him thusly:
there's hundreds of colored
in Baltimore and D.C.
itching for a chance
to fight slavery.
We just got to get word fast,
and I know just how to do it.
Some boys in Baltimore
run a numbers game.
Negroes both in bondage and free
gambles on it.
I plays myself.
Now, if the Old Man could grease
the palm of the numbers man,
they'd spread word faster
than wildfire.
If there's a penny
in it for them
that's all they care about.
How much money we talking?
500 ought to do it.
$500?
Pass word to the Old Man.
Let him decide on it.
I'll roust some wagons
and horses, too.
I'll be back for your answer
next time I come through.
Hold on.
400
Five.
Intriguing music
There's the Old Man's answer.
Ain't going down,
ain't going down
Ain't going down
In that lonesome valley
Ain't going down,
ain't going down
Ain't going down
in that lonesome valley
Jesus
Will save my soul
Jesus will save
My soul
- Ain't going down
- Ain't going down
Ain't going down
Ain't going down
Ain't going down
in that lonesome valley
- Ain't going down
- Ain't going down
Ain't going down
Ain't going down
Get your hands off me!
You gots to go now!
Is my husband back?
What's going on?
What's going on? Onion!
Jesus will save my soul
Jesus will save my soul
"My peace I give to you.
I do not give
the way the world gives.
Let your heart not be troubled.
Do not be afraid."
- John 14.
- Hmm.
What a fine young woman
you've grown into.
I take it you been shy
speaking on our business?
Quiet as a mouse.
This is not the lodging
I requested.
It's too far from the Ferry,
too close to the road.
There wasn't much
to rent, Captain.
It'll suffice.
The army's coming.
Tell him we're here!
Upbeat music
Thank God I'm free
of that coffin.
Just about lost my marbles
- being trapped back there.
- It weren't no fun
smelling you for the last
20 miles, neither.
Get in there. Get some water,
get some water. All right.
You look different.
- What you mean?
- Uglier.
Older. I don't know, it's hard
to tell in that dress.
Follow the drinking gourd
Well, the riverbank
makes a mighty good road
Dead trees will show you the way
Left foot, peg foot
Carrying on
Follow the drinking gourd
You must be Onion.
My father has told me
so much about you.
It's such a pleasure
to meet you.
All right, come on.
- You two met?
- Yes, Father.
Dry up, boys.
Hey, listen!
Here are the rules.
We stay hiding upstairs
during the day.
We do our privy business
at night.
You stay out of the front yard
at all times.
We got nosy neighbors already.
Now, if somebody
comes to the door,
it's me or another Brown
who answers.
Now, if you need to holler,
do it during thunder or such.
All right, gentlemen,
let's skedaddle.
Grab your belongings.
We're staying upstairs.
Upstairs! Let's go. Come on.
I need to sit for a spell.
Rest, Martha.
Oh, good. Onion, help me
spread these maps out.
Put it on the table there.
It seems Mr. Cook
deemed it necessary
to canvass the neighbors
in an intimate fashion.
Do you think he held his tongue?
More or less, Captain,
- but not to the limit.
- Doesn't matter.
Soon, the whole army
will be assembled,
the day will arrive,
and we'll go to arms.
Give me the full report
on how the hiving's going.
It's going, Captain.
I gived the railman
the money you gave us
to collect the coloreds.
Oh, praise God, praise God. Oh!
Hiving of the coloreds
is the most important part
of our strategy.
They're gonna come
by the thousands, no doubt.
- We have to be ready. Oh
- Good morning, Daddy.
Good morning. Here.
Annie is going to
recommence your schooling.
Hmm? Teach you the-the great
books, as well as the Bible.
Thought there were
no greater books than the Bible.
Do you hear that?
The angels sing
your praise, Onion.
There's also Emerson,
Thoreau, Shakespeare.
I brought a little collection.
Oh, wonderful. Wonderful.
Annie's also gonna help
teach you in the ways
of feminine hygiene,
as I imagine your time
may be upon us.
If it hasn't come already?
I'd never met a girl
like Annie Brown.
Fact is, up to that point,
I'd never met
any woman who weren't
a low-down dirty stinker
that drank rotgut
and was trying to swindle a man
out of his last two cents.
Annie weren't nothing like that.
No, sir.
We done cleaned everything
in this place.
Let's take our ease
Not everything.
"Face, feet, pits and privates."
That's what Mama always said.
Your mama, she is too much.
I'll fetch some more water.
Oh, no, the tub's full.
Annie, you go first.
Uh Are you sure, Martha?
Onion, do you want to go first?
- No.
- Oh, come on, Onion.
You can go next.
I don't like the water too hot.
It's not good for the baby.
Intriguing music
You have lost your mind.
This water is perfect.
You're carrying low.
Must be a girl.
I don't know.
It's moving so much,
I think it's a boy.
If it is, course, Salmon's gonna
want to name him John.
But I think "Horace"
is a beautiful name.
Mm Horace is a boy
with a big nose.
Mm, I like "Henry."
Oh, "Henry" is nice.
What other names do we like?
Onion.
You should get undressed.
I-I don't need no bath.
Oh, are you a shy thing?
Yes. I is shy.
I appreciate your understanding,
but I have never undressed
around white folks,
being colored and all.
Oh, don't be silly.
Get over here.
Take your clothes off.
Oh, come on. Don't be a goose.
Take your clothes off.
We'll wash you up good.
Get-get over here.
Onion.
Mrs. Huffmaster?
Good morning.
We weren't expecting visitors
to call so soon.
You must be Miss Huffmaster.
Onion has told me
so much about you.
My name is Annie Morgan,
and, uh, it's a pleasure
to make your acquaintance.
All right, I came here
to call on Mr. Cook,
but he never seems to be around.
Only just that colored.
So, is he here now?
Uh, I'm afraid
I-I haven't seen him.
My He works
for my father as a miner,
and he comes and goes.
Well, I heard that he worked
at the tavern at night.
He's got a job as a miner, too?
I suppose he has two jobs.
These are hard times, after all.
Anyways, I'd happily pass along
a message for you if I see him.
Well, he has been running around
with my sister-in-law
Mary Huffma
Oh, dear.
Have you seen him with her?
Well, uh,
uh no, I ain't
caught 'em yet.
But I heard the rumors.
And my brother is due home
any day now,
and he will come over here,
and he will tear
this place apart.
You don't know his temper.
Rumors are the devil's work,
Mrs. Huffmaster.
Remember Proverbs:
"The words of a whisperer
are like delicious morsels;
they get down into
the inner parts of the body
and become foul."
Here. Please,
try to nourish yourself
with more than
the wicked words of others.
Well, have a good day, Annie.
Slow, somber music
Look straight ahead.
We spent hours reading
the Bible and the great books,
and I come to enjoy our talks.
For even though
I was living the lie,
it come to me this way.
Nobody sees the real you.
Nobody knows who you are inside.
You's judged on the outside.
Mulatto, colored, Black
It don't matter.
You just a Negro to the world.
But somehow, sitting there
with Annie on that porch,
conversating
and looking at stars,
I come to understand
that your outer covering
didn't count so much
as folks thunk.
Who do you want to be?
I mean, when all this is over
and the Negro is free.
Well
I enjoys music,
and I like to sing,
so maybe I'll buy a fiddle
and sing songs
for the rest of my days.
My Henrietta.
How could you not tell me
that you can sing?
Well, why, you never ask.
True.
Can you sing for me now?
Something about the Lord.
Well
Michael, row your boat ashore
Hallelujah
Michael
- Row your boat ashore
- Row the boat ashore
Hallelujah
River Jordan is chilly and cold
Hallelujah
Chills the body but not the soul
- Hallelu
- Hallelujah
That song is so beautiful,
it gives me butterflies.
Hmm.
Can I tell you something?
I dream of starting a school.
And teaching poor kids
White and Black
To learn to read and write.
You could open it with me.
You could teach music.
And I could help
teach letters, too.
I knows mine real good,
thanks to your brothers.
Onion, would you were a boy,
I would marry you.
Onion, come on over here.
I need to talk to you.
What you think you're doing
with Annie Brown?
Nothing.
Don't look like nothing to me.
You don't know nothing
about her.
I knows she's white.
I know she's
the captain's daughter.
And I knows you ain't a girl.
That's all I need to know.
Mind your own business, Bob.
You watch yourself, Onion.
Your mustache is
starting to come in,
and Annie wouldn't be
so sweet on you
if she found out
what kind of liar you is.
Slow, somber music
Oh, Annie.
I was wondering if you could
ans-answer a question.
Of course, I can do my best.
I was just in a prayer
- Oh, were you?
- Do-do you pray?
- I pray.
- Of course you do.
You're an angel.
Now, I have a question
I was curious about.
My name is Henry Shackleford.
My name is Frederick Douglass.
"It is easier to build
strong children
than repair broken men."
I am for you, Rosalind.
And so am I for no woman.
Well, if this be so,
why blame you me to love you?
Why speak you, "Why blame
you me to love you?"
I will say again,
I am for you, Rosalind.
I pray you, no more of this.
'Tis like the howling
of the Irish wolves
against the moon!
I would love you if I could.
I would marry you if ever
I married a woman.
- I would satisfy you.
- Oh
I would content you
if what pleases you
contents you,
but I'll say it again,
I am for no woman.
Shh
I'll be right out.
Mrs. Huffmaster.
Oh, I'm sorry, but I'm afraid
we're not prepared for visitors.
Would you like some lemonade?
- I'll be happy to get you some.
- No. Ain't thirsty.
All right.
How may I help you, then?
What exactly are
you doing today?
I'm cooking.
Oh. And laundry, too?
That's a lot of shirts
hanging on that back line.
Yes, well,
my father and brothers
have quite a few shirts,
and they change 'em
once or twice a week,
so they keep me busy
with the washing.
Horrible, isn't it?
Oh, 'deed it is,
especially when one shirt
will last my husband
two to three weeks.
What is it
your father does again?
My father's a miner.
And a few of his men live and
work here, but you know that.
Oh.
And Mr. Cook,
he sure do have a way
with the girls, don't he?
Especially since he's
romancing my brother's Mary.
He work at the mine, too?
Yes, he does.
Mm-hmm.
So he's working days
at the depot,
and then talking big
at the tavern
at night at the Ferry.
I don't know
Mr. Cook's business,
but he is a dandy talker,
isn't he?
Sometimes I think he keeps his
mouth open so much of the day
with his yammering on, he gets
flies stuck in his teeth.
And, uh,
this nigger here,
she a slave or free?
This is Henrietta,
and she's like
a member of the family.
Mm-hmm.
I am in bondage, missus,
but a happier person
in this world, you cannot find.
I didn't ask if
you was happy, nigger.
- Yes, ma'am.
- But if you is in bondage,
then why is it that you're
hanging 'bout the railroad,
trying to roust the niggers up?
Because that's the talk
around town about you.
I-I done no such thing.
Is you lying, nigger?
Henrietta is a dear friend
of mine, Mrs. Huffmaster,
and I don't appreciate you
speaking to her
in such an unkind manner.
Oh.
You can talk to your niggers
however you like,
but you best get
your story straight.
My husband was at the tavern,
and he overheard Mr. Cook say
that your papa, he is not
a miner or a slave owner at all.
He's an abolitionist.
And that the darkies
are planning something big.
So,
your nigger says
that you're slave owners.
Mr. Cook says you're not.
Which is it?
You are not privy to our lives,
Mrs. Huffmaster,
because it is
none of your business.
You got a smart mouth
for someone so young.
I would thank you
to step off my porch,
and do it quickly,
or I'll help you to it.
My father will be angry with me.
You did great.
Thank you, Onion.
I was scared
she was gonna hug me again.
She was a strong,
kind, courageous woman,
and if she pressed up
against me again,
she'd have felt the love
busting out of me,
and she'd have knowed
I was a man.
Much has been said
about the last meeting
between the Old Man
and Mr. Douglass.
I've heard many variations.
But, truth be to tell it,
there weren't but me
and a handful of grown men there
when the whole thing happened.
The Old Man gived
Mr. Douglass the whole deal:
the plan, the attack,
securing the weapons,
the colored flocking
to his stead,
the army hiding
in the mountains,
white and colored together,
holing up in
the mountain passes so tight
that the Federals and militia
couldn't get in.
And then we make our escape
into the Blue Ridge Mountains.
What have I said
to make you think
that such a plan will work?
You are walking
into a steel trap.
This is the United States Armory
you are talking about.
We talked about this. You wrote
me that it could be done.
I-I planned it to the limit.
No, I said no such thing.
You wrote to me. You s
I said that it should be done.
But what should be
and what could be
are two very different
things, John.
Frederick
we must hive the bees.
When they hear
that you have taken
the nation's largest armory
and are handing out rifles,
every slave will come
and claim their liberty.
We stand at a moment
that may change the world.
Yes.
But not by suicide.
Maybe you just ain't up for it.
Maybe you done had
too many highballs,
meat jellies,
and boiled pigeons.
Now, maybe you're just a
a man of parlor talk.
Parlor talk a-and
fancy silk shirts, of course.
Or maybe I intend
to win this war
and not die a martyr.
No, no.
How can you rest upon a reed
so weary and broken?
In nature, a hunted animal
sometimes finds a place
to stop and take its stand.
I have found such a place.
We will begin the fight
at Harpers Ferry.
No, the battle will end
at Harpers Ferry, John.
You are a respected man.
You are loved, revered.
Yes, and you are a fanatic.
I am a realist.
Right. And the Lord makes us
in all kinds, so that
so that if we work together,
we can achieve the impossible.
Come with me, Frederick.
I will defend you with my life.
When we strike,
the bees will swarm,
but they won't swarm for me.
They'll swarm for love.
They'll swarm for you.
I cannot do it.
Slow, somber music
Well, then, I'll take my leave.
Good luck, old friend.
Well
I guess I'm gonna go
with the Old Man, then.
Are you serious?
Yeah.
Think it's my time
to take a stand, too.
The captain took
Frederick Douglass's news
across the ribs,
knowing he was done in.
He knowed he was gonna lose
fighting for the Negro,
on account of the Negro.
And he brung himself
to it anyway.
For he trusted the Lord's word.
- Thank you.
- Yeah.
Captain
something in my heart
tells me that God's with us.
You're so kind.
I guess we all have
those moments, hmm,
when the cotton turns yellow
and the boll weevil
eats your crops,
and you're just
shook down to your core
with disappointment.
- That's what I'm feeling?
- Mm.
If you reach down and touch
you touch that disappointment,
you can feel God
opening the doors of your heart.
Here.
Even as I found God,
God was telling me
to get the hell out of there.
Frederick had wronged
the Old Man something terrible.
There weren't no way
Mr. Douglass
could've brung hisself
to fight a real war.
He was a speechifying
parlor man.
Some things in this world
just ain't meant to be.
And that's a heavy load to bear.
But turns out
that weren't the worst
of our problems.
I'm sorry, Daddy, Mrs.
Huffmaster told the sheriff
we're abolitionists
harboring runaways.
He'll be here with his deputies
to search the property.
How much time do we have?
I reckon the sheriff
will be here
by sundown tomorrow night.
- Captain, let's do it now.
- What are we supposed to do?
Why don't we just
wait till spring?
No, we have to call it off.
Yeah, it's not the
worst idea that you've ever had.
It is not the worst idea
Silence!
We have to move up
the date of the attack.
- Wh-What?
- When?
Isn't that the one thing
the general told us not to do?
Tomorrow. Tomorrow night.
By the time the sheriff
gets here, we'll be gone.
Mm. We attack Harpers Ferry
tomorrow night.
No, we cannot
pull this off in time.
Why don't we just
kill the sheriff?
Onion, I know
I've asked a lot of you,
but the cause needs you now
more than ever.
You go to the railman.
You tell him to roust
whomever he can.
We're moving tomorrow night.
Go, go, go. I believe in you.
Go, go.
Go, go, go, go, Onion!
Slow, tense music
What you doing here?
I got a message
from the captain.
Change of plans.
We rolling tomorrow night.
Tomorrow night?
Why would he do
a fool thing like that?
Don't worry about why.
Worry about bringing
who you can.
I just got the ball rolling.
That ain't my problem.
If I hear one more
cockeyed word out of that
fast little hole in your face,
I'll throw you in the river.
I'm just telling you
what the Old Man said.
Yeah.
You're just a messenger,
ain't you?
Everything is simple
to a sissy snit like you.
Can I tell the captain
he can count on you?
Shit, I thought I had a month.
I don't know if I can round
all them people up
by tomorrow night.
I'll do what I can.
Stop the train
before the bridge.
I'll get out,
see what the trouble is.
I'll need a password
from the captain's man.
A password?
A-a-a sign, a word.
A signal to me
to let the slaves off to fight.
It's got to be something normal.
I'll say, "Who goes there?"
Whoever there say,
"Jesus is walking."
Can you remember that?
"Who goes there?"
"Jesus is walking."
Get.
The place was rolling
like a military fort under fire.
The fellas were so relieved
to get moving,
having been crushed
in that tiny space so long,
it was a pity.
Everyone moving
with such a purpose,
I never even got a chance
to say goodbye to the Old Man.
Onion.
Come on, let's go.
Captain wants you to go back
with Salmon, Martha and Annie
- to the homestead.
- Why?
We don't have time to argue.
Annie, come here.
Thank you.
Goodbye, Annie.
Love you!
Michael, row
The boat ashore
Hallelujah
Michael, row the boat ashore
- Hallelujah
-I think you'll like
North Elba.
It's quiet country.
Free country.
Free to sing your songs.
Have faith, lest you drown.
As long as Peter had faith,
he wasn't liable to drown
on his way walking
over the water to Jesus.
- Stop the wagon! Stop the wagon!
- Quiet, Onion! Stay down!
Onion, what's gotten into you?
- Stop the wagon!
- Onion!
"Jesus is walking."
The thought of the captain
dead and on account of me
Made me feel worse than Annie
being disgusted with me
A nigger playing a girl,
not man enough to love her.
I couldn't stand it.
"Michael, Row the Boat
Ashore" by Joe and Eddie
Michael, row
the boat ashore, hallelujah
I'm a man, a-and I love you,
Annie Brown.
And I won't ever see you again.
Michael, row the boat ashore
Hallelujah
Onion.
Michael, row the boat ashore
Onion!
Hallelujah
Onion!
Onion, I know!
Sister, help to trim the sails
Hallelujah
Sister, help to trim the sails
Hallelujah
Michael, row the boat ashore
Hallelujah
Michael, row the boat ashore
Hallelujah
Sister and brother,
won't you lend a hand
Hallelujah
Let's get this ship
to the promised land
Hallelujah
Michael, row the boat ashore