Ex-slave and former Union soldier Gideon Jackson represents other ex-slaves at the constitutional convention, and is soon elected to the U.S. Senate despite opposition from white landowners, law enforcement and the KKK. He unites with sharecropper Abner Lait, who helps Jackson unite ex-slaves and white tenant farmers.
Cast
Muhammad Ali
Gideon Jackson
Kris Kristofferson
Abner Lait
Ron O'Neal
Francis Cardoza
Edward Herrmann
Stephen Holmes
John McLiam
President Ulysses S. Grant
Ossie Davis
Narrator
Barbara O. Jones
Rachel Jackson (as Barbara-O Jones)
Sonny Jim Gaines
Brother Peter
Joel Fluellen
James Allenby
Jean Foster
Ellen Allenby
Grace Zabriskie
Ruth Lait
Bill Mackey
Trooper
Earl D.A. Smith
Hannibal
Alfre Woodard
Katie
Fred Covington
Sheriff Bentley
Sonny Shroyer
Jason Hugar
Ernest Dixon
Marion Jefferson
Sylvia Kuumba Williams
Louise Jefferson
Tom Delaney
Will Boone
Ron Gural
Frank Carlson
William Allen Young
Older Jeff Jackson
Tony Ross
Young Jeff Jackson
Eric Washington
Older Marcus Jackson
Rodney King Adams
Young Marcus Jackson
Howard Brunner
Lawyer Greene
Howland Chamberlain
Isaac Went
Georgia Allen
Mrs. Carter
James Bowman
1st White Trash Delegate
Don Brady
2nd White Trash Delegate
Robert Bloodworth
Major at Convention
Barbara Chaney
Mrs. Ganfret
Stuart Culpepper
Major Walsh
Lionel Ferbis Jr.
Uncle Baddy
Peter Gabb
3rd White Trash Delegate
Ian Graham
Jimmy Lait
Jerome Greene
Black Delegate
Bill Holliday
Yankee Boss
Don Hood
Gen. Ganfret
Maurice Hunt
Dudley Carwell
Don Lutenbacher
Convention Speaker
Ritchie Montgomery
Soldier
Danny Nelson
Auctioneer
Afemo Omilami
Young Black Man with Scars
Courtney Pledger
Mrs. Dupre
David Robbins
Wounded Redshirt
Jeremiah Shabazz
Well-Dressed Black Delegate
Gregory White
Clair Willis
Bob Zay
Roger Dupre
Crew
Ján Kadár
Director
David Zelag Goodman
Writer
Howard Fast
Novel
Anne Goursaud
Editor
George Folsey Jr.
Editor
Charles Correll
Director of Photography
Zev Braun
Executive Producer
Chet Walker
Producer
Leland Nolan
Producer
Daniel A. Lomino
Production Design
Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson
Original Music Composer
Terry James
Original Music Composer
Bill Webb
Set Decoration
Jocelyn A. Cotlon
Set Decoration
Tony Brubaker
Stunt Double
