Gideon Jackson (Muhammad Ali), once a black slave, returns home after the civil War as a free man. The Union Army has won the war against the Southern Confederation, but in reality, the country still remains bitterly divided. Gideon Jackson soon becomes a U.S. senator from South Carolina, the very state which was previously a flag barrier of "white supremacy" and "slavery". How will the illiterate and blue-collar former slave utilize his newfound freedom? Racism is not ended with the war, Can he ever hope to achieve real equality with his former white master?