Emancipation

Scenes of violence are motivated by racism, with enslaved people whipped, beaten and shot by white men. In one scene, a Black man has the mark of his slave owner burned onto his cheek. Other strong scenes include a slave owner cutting the throat of a man before decapitating him; significant bloodshed occurs during the attack, but process detail of the decapitation is brief and framed from a distance. There is also strong battle violence depicting soldiers shot in the head, stabbed and blown up by cannon fire.

Racist language is used throughout the film, with enslaved people frequently referred to as 'n****r', 'animals' and 'boy'. There is also use of the term 'negro'. Such language occurs within a clear historical context and their use is not condoned. Racist behaviour as well as visual references to the historical period occur throughout the film: a man's body hangs from a tree in the aftermath of a lynching; decapitated heads on wooden stakes line a road; a man caught trying to escape is dragged along behind a horse; a man is taunted by a barking dog and is told to beg for meat on his hands and knees. In another scene, we see a mass open grave in which several corpses are being covered over with lime.

A slave owner comments that a slave's teenage daughter is of age and infers his designs for her.

There is focus on blood and injuries sustained in battle, such as a soldier with an intestinal wound, or soldiers with missing limbs being treated in a field hospital. There are also injuries that bare the marks of slavery, for example, a man's back covered in healed scars as a result of repeated whippings; the photograph documenting the real subject and injuries from which these scenes are inspired is also shown at the end of the film. Among other bloody scenes is brief focus on a pig carcass being butchered.