Set amid the Civil War, Free State of Jones recounts the account of insubordinate Southern rancher, Newt Knight, and his remarkable outfitted defiance to the Confederacy. Banding together with other little ranchers and nearby slaves, Knight propelled an uprising that drove Jones County, Mississippi to withdraw from the Confederacy, making a Free State of Jones. Knight proceeded with his battle into Reconstruction, recognizing him as a convincing, if questionable, figure of disobedience long past the War.