NationMaster - Encyclopedia: The Birth of a Nation

The Birth of a Nation (also known as The Clansman) is one of the most influential and controversial films in the history of American cinema. Set during the American Civil War and directed by D.W. Griffith, the film was released on February 8, 1915. It is important in film history for its innovative technical achievements and also for its controversial promotion of white supremacism and glorification of the Ku Klux Klan. Image File history File links poster for Birth of a Nation, 1915 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... David Llewelyn Wark D.W. Griffith (January 22, 1875 â€“ July 23, 1948) was an American film director. ... Illustration from The Clansman. ... Lillian Diana de Guiche (October 14, 1893 â€“ February 27, 1993), was an Oscar-nominated American actress, better known as Lillian Gish. ... Henry B. Walthall (March 16, 1878 - June 17, 1936) was an American film actor. ... Studio promotional photo Mae Marsh (born Mary Wayne Marsh, November 9, 1895 in Madrid, New Mexico, died February 13, 1968 in Hermosa Beach, California) was an American film actress with a career spanning over 50 years. ... Georg William Billy Bitzer (April 21, 1872–April 29, 1944) was a cinematographer notable for his close association with D. W. Griffith, working with him on some of his most important films and contributing significantly to cinematic innovations attributed to Griffith. ... Raoul Walsh as John Wilkes Booth in Birth of a Nation Raoul Walsh (March 11, 1887 â€“ December 31, 1980) was an American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) and the brother of silent screen actor George Walsh. ... is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday[1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... A silent film is a film which has no accompanying soundtrack. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Birth of a Nation was a thought provoking and at times harrowing tale of life at an English comprehensive school. ... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total... David Lewelyn Wark Griffith (January 22, 1875 - July 23, 1948) was an American film director (commonly known as D. W. Griffith) probably best known for his film The Birth of a Nation. ... is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday[1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Origins of motion picture arts and sciences Any overview of the history of cinema would be remiss to fail to at least mention a long history of literature, storytelling, narrative drama, art, mythology, puppetry, shadow play, cave paintings and perhaps even dreams. ... White supremacy is the variety of white nationalism that believes the white race should rule over other races. ... Members of the second Ku Klux Klan at a rally during the 1920s. ...

The Birth of a Nation is based on Thomas Dixon's The Clansman, a novel and play that heroically portrays the Ku Klux Klan. The KKK describes itself, even today, as "the invisible empire" and "the invisible nation" protecting "white manhood". Thus, some have interpreted the title as referring to "The Birth of the Invisible Nation." Officially, however, the title means that the United States was not truly a nation until after the Civil War reunited the North and South, as symbolized in the film by the Stoneman-Cameron marriages. Illustration from The Clansman. ... Illustration from The Clansman. ... Members of the second Ku Klux Klan at a rally during the 1920s. ... The American Civil War was fought in the United States from 1861 until 1865 between the northern states, popularly referred to as the U.S., the Union, the North, or the Yankees; and the seceding southern states, commonly referred to as the Confederate States of America, the CSA, the Confederacy...

Synopsis

The film was originally presented in two parts separated by an intermission. Part 1 depicts pre-Civil War America, introducing two juxtaposed families: the Northern Stonemans, consisting of abolitionist Congressman Austin Stoneman (based on real-life Reconstruction-era Congressman Thaddeus Stevens), his two sons, and his daughter, Elsie, and the Southern Camerons, a family including two daughters (Margaret and Flora) and three sons, most notably Ben. An intermission or interval is a break between two performances or sessions, in events such as a theatrical play, opera or musical concert. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Thaddeus Stevens Thaddeus Stevens (April 4, 1792 - August 11, 1868), also known as The Great Commoner, was a United States Representative from Pennsylvania. ...

The Stoneman boys visit the Camerons at their South Carolina estate, a pinnacle of the Old South, and all it represents. The eldest Stoneman boy falls in love with Margaret Cameron, and Ben Cameron idolizes a picture of Elsie Stoneman. When the Civil War begins, all of the boys join their respective armies. A black militia (with a white leader) ransacks the Cameron house, attempting to rape all the Cameron women, who are rescued when Confederate soldiers rout the militia. Meanwhile, the youngest Stoneman and two Cameron boys are killed in the war. Ben Cameron is wounded after a heroic battle in which he gains the nickname, "the Little Colonel," by which he is referred to for the rest of the film. The Little Colonel is taken to a Northern hospital where he meets Elsie, who is working there as a nurse. The war ends and Abraham Lincoln is assassinated at Ford's Theater, allowing Austin Stoneman and other radical congressmen to "punish" the South for secession with Reconstruction. Official language(s) English Capital Charleston(1670-1789) Columbia(1790-present) Largest city Columbia Largest metro area Columbia Area Ranked 40th - Total 34,726 sq mi (82,965 kmÂ²) - Width 200 miles (320 km) - Length 260 miles (420 km) - % water 6 - Latitude 32Â° 2â€² N to 35Â° 13â€² N - Longitude... Geographically, Old South is a subregion of the American South, differentiated from the Deep South as being the Southern States represented in the original thirteen American colonies, as well as a way of describing the former lifestyle in the Southern United States. ... Lebanese Kataeb militia A Militia is an organization of citizens to provide defense, emergency or paramilitary service, or those engaged in such activity. ... For other uses, see Abraham Lincoln (disambiguation). ... Fords Theatre in the 19th century Fords Theatre in Washington, D.C. was the site of the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Reconstruction (disambiguation). ...

Part 2 begins to depict Reconstruction. Stoneman and his mulatto protege, Silas Lynch, go to South Carolina to personally observe their agenda of empowering Southern blacks via election fraud. Meanwhile, Ben, inspired by observing white children pretending to be ghosts to scare off black children, devises a plan to reverse perceived powerlessness of Southern whites by forming the Ku Klux Klan, although his membership in the group angers Elsie. Image File history File links scene from The Birth of a Nation, 1915 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Mulatto (Spanish mulato, small mule, person of mixed race, mulatto, from mulo, mule, from Old Spanish, from Latin mÅ«lus. ... Electoral fraud is the deliberate interference with the process of an election. ...

Then Gus, a murderous former slave with designs on white women, crudely proposes to marry Flora. She flees into the forest, pursued by Gus. Trapped on a precipice, Flora leaps to her death to avoid letting herself be raped. In response, the Klan hunts Gus, lynches him, and leaves his corpse on Lieutenant Governor Silas Lynch's doorstep. In retaliation, Lynch orders a crackdown on the Klan. The Camerons flee from the black militia and hide out in a small hut, home to two former Union soldiers, who agree to assist their former Southern foes in defending their "Aryan birthright," according to the caption. Lynching is a form of violence, usually execution, conceived of by its perpetrators as extrajudicial punishment for offenders or as a terrorist method of enforcing social domination. ... The Aryan race is a concept in European culture that was influential in the period of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. ...

Meanwhile, with Austin Stoneman gone, Lynch tries to force Elsie to marry him. Disguised Klansmen discover her situation and leave to get reinforcements. The Klan, now at full strength, rides to her rescue and takes the opportunity to evict all of the blacks. Simultaneously, Lynch's militia surrounds and attacks the hut where the Camerons are hiding, but the Klan saves them just in time. Victorious, the Klansmen celebrate in the streets, and the film cuts to the next election where the Klan successfully disenfranchises black voters. The film concludes with a double honeymoon of Phil Stoneman with Margaret Cameron and Ben Cameron with Elsie Stoneman. The final frame shows masses oppressed by a mythical god of war suddenly finding themselves at peace under the image of Christ. The final title rhetorically asks: "Dare we dream of a golden day when the bestial War shall rule no more. But instead-the gentle Prince in the Hall of Brotherly Love in the City of Peace." Disenfranchising refers to the removal of the ability to vote from a person or group of people. ... Christ is the English term for the Greek word (ChristÃ³s), which literally means The Anointed One. ...

Adaptation of source material

The film was based on Thomas Dixon's novels The Clansman and The Leopard's Spots. At its Los Angeles premiere in February at Clune's Auditorium it was entitled The Clansman, but on the advice of author Thomas W. Dixon was retitled for its official East Coast premiere at the Liberty Theater in New York's Times Square three weeks later (March 3).^{[citation needed]} Illustration from The Clansman. ... The Leopards Spots: A Romance of the White Mans Burden—1865–1900 is a book by Thomas Dixon, written in 1902, and published by Doubleday, Page & Co. ... Times Square. ...

The title was changed from The Clansman to The Birth of a Nation to reflect Griffith's belief that before the American Civil War, the United States was a loose coalition of states antagonistic toward each other, and that the Northern victory over the breakaway states in the South finally bound the states under one national authority.^[1] Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total... Regional definitions vary from source to source. ... This article is 88 kilobytes or more in size. ...

Production

Griffith agreed to pay Thomas Dixon $10,000 for the rights to his play The Clansman, but ran out of money and could only afford $2,500 of the original option. For the balance, he offered Dixon 25% interest in the picture. Dixon reluctantly agreed, but the film's unprecedented success made him rich: at the time, Dixon's proceeds were the largest sum any author received for a motion picture story, amounting to several million dollars. Image File history File links scene from The Birth of a Nation, 1915 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links scene from The Birth of a Nation, 1915 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... It has been suggested that Interest expense be merged into this article or section. ...

Griffith's budget started at US$40,000, but the film ultimately cost $110,000^{[citation needed]} (the equivalent of $2.2 million in 2007^[2]). As a result, Griffith constantly had to seek new sources of capital for his film. A ticket to the film cost a record $2 (the equivalent of $40 in 2007^[2]). However, it remained the most profitable film of all time until it was dethroned by Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a 1937 animated feature, the first produced by Walt Disney. ...

West Point engineers provided technical advice on the Civil War battle scenes and provided Griffith with the masses of artillery used in the film.^[3] â€œUSMAâ€ redirects here. ... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total...

The film premiered on February 8, 1915, at Clune's Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles. is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday[1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Nickname: Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates: , State County Settled 1781 Incorporated April 4, 1850 Government - Type Mayor-Council - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa - City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo - Governing body City Council Area - City 498. ...

Racism

Political ideology

The film is controversial due to its interpretation of history. University of Houston film historian Steven Mintz summarises its message as follows: Reconstruction was a disaster, blacks could never be integrated into white society as equals, and that the violent actions of the Ku Klux Klan were justified to reestablish honest government.^[4] The film suggests that the Ku Klux Klan restored order to the post-war South, which is depicted as endangered by uncontrollable blacks and their allies (abolitionists, mulattos and carpetbagging Republican politicians from the North). This was the dominant view among white American historians of the day, chief among them the Dunning School, but it was vigorously disputed by W.E.B. Du Bois and other black historians of that era, all of whom the Dunning School ignored. Some historians maintained this viewpoint even after World War II, such as E. Merton Coulter's in his The South Under Reconstruction (1947), and it took the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s for a new generation of historians (such as Eric Foner) to rethink Reconstruction and other ideas of the period.^{[citation needed]} Image File history File links Wilson-quote-in-birth-of-a-nation. ... Image File history File links Wilson-quote-in-birth-of-a-nation. ... Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856â€“February 3, 1924), was the twenty-eighth President of the United States. ... The University of Houston, formerly University of Houstonâ€“University Park, is a comprehensive doctoral degree-granting university[2] located in Houston, Texas. ... For other uses, see Reconstruction (disambiguation). ... This article is about the abolition of slavery. ... In United States history, carpetbaggers were Northerners who moved to the South during Reconstruction between 1865 and 1877. ... The Republican Party, often called the GOP (for Grand Old Party, although one early citation described it as the Gallant Old Party) [1], is one of the two major political parties in the United States. ... The Dunning School was from 1900 to 1960 the dominant school of historiography regarding the Reconstruction period in American history, 1865-1877. ... This article or section needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki TÅjÅ Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Ellis Merton Coulter (1890â€“1981) was a American historian and founding member of the Southern Historical Association. ... Prominent figures of the African-American Civil Rights Movement. ... Eric Foner (born February 7, 1943 in New York City) is an American historian. ...

Many elements of the film seem astonishingly racist to modern audiences. Black men are shown leering after white women, and black legislators are shown eating chicken and taking off their shoes in session. Although the film made use of some black actors in minor roles, most of the black and mulatto characters are played by Caucasian actors in blackface. This was the prevailing Hollywood custom at the time, as any actor who was to come in contact with a white actress had to be played by a white male^{[citation needed]} (for example, the Camerons' maid is both white and obviously male). Mulatto (Spanish mulato, small mule, person of mixed race, mulatto, from mulo, mule, from Old Spanish, from Latin mÅ«lus. ... This reproduction of a 1900 minstrel show poster, originally published by the Strobridge Litho Co. ...

In one intertitle, it proclaims that the following scene was based on an actual photograph of the state house, but the intertitle, in fact, cuts to an empty courthouse, then dissolves in to show the antics attributed to the blacks. This has been argued as Griffith covering his tracks, having based the scene on a photograph of the unoccupied courthouse and then misdirecting the viewer with the way the comment is written.

Responses

Though lucrative, and popular among some white movie critics and white moviegoers, the film drew significant protest from blacks upon its release. Premieres of the film were widely protested by the newly founded National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).[1] Griffith said he was surprised by the harsh criticism.^{[citation needed]} The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP, generally pronounced as EN Double AY SEE PEE) is one of the oldest and most influential civil rights organizations in the United States. ...

The film's politics made Birth of a Nation divisive when it was released. Riots broke out in Boston, Philadelphia and other major cities, and the film was denied release in Chicago, Ohio, Denver, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Kansas City, and Minneapolis. It was said to create an atmosphere that encouraged gangs of whites to attack blacks. In Lafayette, Indiana, a white man killed a black teenager after seeing the movie.^[5] Nickname: Location in Massachusetts, USA Coordinates: , Country United States State Massachusetts County Suffolk County Settled 1630 Incorporated (city) 1822 Government - Mayor Thomas M. Menino (D) Area - City 89. ... Nickname: Motto: Philadelphia maneto - Let brotherly love endure Location in Pennsylvania Coordinates: , Country Commonwealth County Philadelphia Founded October 27, 1682 Incorporated October 25, 1701 Government - Mayor John F. Street (D) Area - City 369. ... Nickname: Motto: Urbs in Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location in the Chicago metro area and Illinois Coordinates: , Country State Counties Cook, DuPage Settled 1770s Incorporated March 4, 1837 Government - Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Area - City 234. ... Official language(s) None Capital Columbus Largest city Columbus Largest metro area Cleveland Area Ranked 34th - Total 44,825 sq mi (116,096 kmÂ²) - Width 220 miles (355 km) - Length 220 miles (355 km) - % water 8. ... This article refers to the state capital of Colorado. ... â€œPittsburghâ€ redirects here. ... Nickname: Location in the state of Missouri Coordinates: , Country State County Independent City Government - Mayor Francis G. Slay (D) Area - City 66. ... Nickname: Location in Jackson, Clay, Platte, and Cass Counties in the state of Missouri. ... This article is about the city in Minnesota. ... Lafayette (IPA: ) is a city in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, USA, 63 miles (101 km) northwest of Indianapolis. ... Official language(s) English Capital Indianapolis Largest city Indianapolis Area Ranked 38th - Total 36,418 sq mi (94,321 kmÂ²) - Width 140 miles (225 km) - Length 270 miles (435 km) - % water 1. ...

Thomas Dixon, author of the source play The Clansman, was a former classmate of President Wilson. Dixon arranged a screening at the White House, for the President, members of his cabinet, and their families. Wilson was reported to have commented of the film that "it is like writing history with lightning. And my only regret is that it is all so terribly true." In Wilson: The New Freedom, Arthur Link quotes Wilson's aide, Joseph Tumulty, who denied Wilson said this and also claims that "the President was entirely unaware of the nature of the play before it was presented and at no time has expressed his approbation of it."^[6] The source for the false quote, often repeated in print, was apparently Dixon himself, who was relentless in his publicizing of the film; he went so far as to promote it as "federally endorsed". However, after controversy over the film had grown Wilson wrote that he disapproved of the "unfortunate production"^[7]. Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856â€“February 3, 1924), was the twenty-eighth President of the United States. ... For other uses, see White House (disambiguation). ...

Several independent black filmmakers released director Emmett J. Scott's The Birth of a Race (1919) in response to The Birth of a Nation. The film that portrayed a positive image of blacks was panned by white critics but well-received by black critics and moviegoers attending segregated theaters.^{[citation needed]} Likewise director/producer/writer Oscar Micheaux released Within Our Gates (1919) in response to The Birth of a Nation, and reversed a key scene of Griffith's film by representing a black woman assaulted by a lecherous white man. The Birth of a Race (1918) was a silent film directed by John W. Noble. ... Oscar Micheaux (1893-1951) Oscar Micheaux (January 2, 1893 â€“ March 25, 1951) was a pioneering African American author and is widely recognized as being the first African-American filmmaker (although he was predated by the shortlived Lincoln Motion Picture Company[1]). He is without a doubt the most famous producer... Still from the 1919 Oscar Micheaux film Within Our Gates featuring actress Evelyn Preer Within Our Gates is a 1919 silent film about an African-American who goes North and helps a minister in the Deep South raise money to keep a school for poor Black children open. ...

The Birth of a Nation has been linked to the second emergence of the Ku Klux Klan, which was revived the year of the film's release after a period of non-existence, and to changing Northern public opinion toward the South.^{[citation needed]} Despite the passage of 50 years, a strong pro-Confederate idealism remained in the South and impeded national ideological reunification.^{[citation needed]} The Klan was using the film as a recruitment tool as late as the 1970s.

Nearly a century later, the film remains controversial. On February 22, 2000, in an article entitled "A Painful Present as Historians Confront a Nation's Bloody Past", staff writer Claudia Kolker wrote in the Los Angeles Times: is the 53rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... This just IN !!!:paris hiltons new dog. ...

â€œThe Great War â€ redirects here. ... Political cartoon of the era depicting an anarchist attempting to destroy the Statue of Liberty. ... A trade union or labor union is a continuous association of wage-earners for the purpose of maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment. ...

Significance in film history

The film was released in 1915 and has been credited with securing the future of feature length films (any film over 60 minutes in length) as well as solidifying the language of cinema. A reel of film, which predates digital cinematography. ...

In its day, it was the highest grossing film, taking in more than $10 million at the box office according to the box cover of the Shepard version of the DVD currently available (equivalent to $200 million in 2007).^[2]

In 1992 the United States Library of Congress deemed it "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry. The Library of Congress is the de facto national library of the United States and the research arm of the United States Congress. ... The word culture, from the Latin colo, -ere, with its root meaning to cultivate, generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance. ... The National Film Registry is the registry of films selected by the United States National Film Preservation Board for preservation in the Library of Congress. ...

Despite its controversial story, the film continues to get praise from film critics such as Roger Ebert, who said: "'The Birth of a Nation' is not a bad film because it argues for evil. Like Riefenstahl’s 'The Triumph of the Will,' it is a great film that argues for evil. To understand how it does so is to learn a great deal about film, and even something about evil. ".[2] Roger Joseph Ebert (born June 18, 1942) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American film critic. ... Triumph of the Will (German: Triumph des Willens) is a propaganda film by the German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl. ...

In contrast, film historian Jonathan Lapper contends that it should no longer be considered a great film. In his article "The Myth of a Nation" he writes that "most critics (have) developed a pattern of response to the film that continues to this day: Praise the film's techniques, deplore the film's content, let technique trump content, declare the film a masterpiece." He argues that it is disingenuous to separate the film's content from its technique.

The website for Oldham County, Kentucky lists D.W. Griffith as a notable citizen and this film as his greatest achievement. [3] Oldham County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. ...

Cast

Mary Alden (June 18, 1883-July 2, 1946) was a motion picture actress and performer on the Broadway stage from New Orleans, Louisiana. ... Elmer Clifton, (1890 - 1949) was an American writer, director, and actor from the early silent days. ... Miriam Cooper (November 7, 1891-April 12, 1976) was an American silent motion picture actress from Baltimore, Maryland. ... Walter Long (5 March 1879â€“4 July 1952) was an American character actor in films from the 1910s. ... Samuel Alfred De Grace (June 12, 1875 - November 29, 1953) was a Canadian actor. ... Dorothy Gish photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1932 Dorothy Gish (March 11, 1898 - June 4, 1968) was an American actress. ... Lillian Diana de Guiche (October 14, 1893 â€“ February 27, 1993), was an Oscar-nominated American actress, better known as Lillian Gish. ... Robert Bobby Harron (April 12, 1893 - September 5, 1920) was a highly successful and publicly popular American motion picture actor of the early silent film era. ... Studio promotional photo Mae Marsh (born Mary Wayne Marsh, November 9, 1895 in Madrid, New Mexico, died February 13, 1968 in Hermosa Beach, California) was an American film actress with a career spanning over 50 years. ... Wallace Reid Wallace Reid, born April 15, 1891 in St. ... Robert Bobby Harron (April 12, 1893 - September 5, 1920) was a highly successful and publicly popular American motion picture actor of the early silent film era. ... Frank Spottiswoode Aitken (16 April 1868, Edinburgh, Scotland - 26 February 1933, Los Angeles, California, USA) was a Scottish- American actor of the silent era. ... Alma Rubens Alma Rubens (February 19, 1897 - January 22, 1931) is an american silent film actress. ... Madame Sul-Te-Wan Madame Sul-Te-Wan (March 7, 1873 - February 1, 1959) was the stage name of an African-American stage and film actress whose career spanned over five decades. ... Henry B. Walthall (March 16, 1878 - June 17, 1936) was an American film actor. ... Joseph Henabery (15 January 1888) Omaha, Nebraska, was a US film actor and director. ... Monte Blue (real name: Gerard Montgomery Blue (b. ... Raoul Walsh as John Wilkes Booth in Birth of a Nation Raoul Walsh (March 11, 1887 â€“ December 31, 1980) was an American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) and the brother of silent screen actor George Walsh. ... Donald Crisp (July 27, 1882 â€“ May 25, 1974) was an Academy Award winning English film actor. ... Gibson Gowland (1877 - 1951) was a British film actor. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Elmo Lincoln is best known in his silent movie role of Tarzan. ... John Ford (February 1, 1894 â€“ August 31, 1973) was an American film director famous for westerns such as Stagecoach and The Searchers and adaptations of such classic 20th century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath. ... Violet Wilkey (January 10, 1903 - June 5, 1976) was an American child actor whose career lasted only four years during the early silent film era. ...

Sequel

A sequel was released to theaters one year later, in 1916, called The Fall of a Nation. The film is directed by Thomas Dixon's, who adapted from the novel of the same name. The film has three acts and a prologue.[[4]] It is considered lost. Illustration from The Clansman. ...

Footnotes

is the 118th day of the year (119th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday[1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

References

External links

Categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since January 2007 | 1915 films | American Civil War films | American films | American silent films | Black and white films | Epic films | Films based on fiction books | Films based on plays | Films over three hours long | Historical films | History of the Southern United States | History of the United States (1865–1918) | Ku Klux Klan | Race-related films | Silent films | United States National Film Registry | Films directed by D. W. Griffith Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ... Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is a cable television channel featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and Warner Bros. ... Roger Joseph Ebert (born June 18, 1942) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American film critic. ... Google Video logo Google Video is a free video sharing and video search engine service from Google that allows anyone to upload video clips to Googles web servers as well as make their own media available free of charge; some videos are also offered for sale through the Google... Racism is a belief or concept that inherent differences between people, in particular those upon which the concept of race is based, significantly influence cultural or individual achievement, and may involve the idea that ones self-identified race or ethnic group or others race or ethnic group is superior. ... For the legal definition of apartheid, see Crime of apartheid. ... â€œShoahâ€ redirects here. ... Racism in the United States has been a major issue in America since the colonial era. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Historically, the civil rights movement was a period of time around the world of approximately one generation (1954â€“1980) wherein there was much worldwide civil unrest and popular rebellion. ... Description: Colored Waiting Room sign from segregationist era United States Medium: Black_and_white photograph Location: Rome GA, United States Date: September 1943 Author: Esther Bubley Source: Library of Congress Provider: Images of American Political History at the College of New Jersey [1] License: Public domain Misc: Borders cropped with with GIMP... White supremacy is a racist ideology which holds the belief that white people are superior to other races. ... Black supremacy is a racist[1] ideology which holds that black people are superior to other people and is most often thought of in connection with anti-white racism, anti-Semitism and bigotry towards non-black people. ... Social Darwinism is the idea that Charles Darwins theory can be extended and applied to the social realm, i. ... National Socialism redirects here. ... Proto-Indo-European Indo-European studies The Aryan race is a notion mentioned in the Old Persian inscriptions and other Persian sources from c. ... Institutional racism (or structural racism or systemic racism) is a theoretical form of racism that is supposed to occur in institutions such as public bodies and corporations, including universities. ... State racism is a concept used by French philosopher Michel Foucault to designate the reappropriation of the historical and political discourse of race struggle, In the late seventeenth century. ... Racial profiling, also known as ethnic profiling, is the inclusion of racial or ethnic characteristics in determining whether a person is considered likely to commit a particular type of crime (see Offender Profiling). ... The article describes the state of race relations and racism in a number of countries. ... Ethnic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives political legitimacy from historical cultural or hereditary groupings (ethnicities); the underlying assumption is that ethnicities should be politically distinct. ... Hate speech is a controversial term for speech intended to degrade, intimidate, or incite violence or prejudicial action against a person or group of people based on their race, gender, age, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, language ability, moral or political views, socioeconomic class, occupation or appearance... The Rex Theatre for Colored People Racial segregation is characterized by separation of different races in daily life, such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a rest room, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home[1]. Segregation... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Scientific racism might refer to either obsolete scientific theories of the 19th century or to historical and contemporary racist propaganda disguised as scientific research. ... Slave redirects here. ... The crime of apartheid is defined by the 2002 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court which established the International Criminal Court as inhumane acts of a character similar to other crimes against humanity committed in the context of an institutionalised regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial... Ethnic cleansing refers to various policies or practices aimed at the displacement of an ethnic group from a particular territory in order to create a supposedly ethnically pure society. ... A Jewish cemetery in France after being defaced by Neo-Nazis. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction of an ethnic or national group. ... Lynching is a form of violence, usually execution, conceived of by its perpetrators as extrajudicial punishment for offenders or as a terrorist method of enforcing social domination. ... Wise American Indian chief from the movie Drums Across the River This article discusses the various stereotypes of American Indians present in Western societies. ... Anti-Arabism is a term that refers to prejudice or hostility against people from Arabic origin. ... This article discusses stereotypes of blacks of African descent present in American culture. ... Antiziganism or Anti-Romanyism is hostility, prejudice or racism directed at the Romani people, commonly called Gypsies. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... DJs dad from the show Thugaboo: Sneaker Madness is portrayed as an overly proper white American This article discusses the various stereotypes of Europeans/whites present in Western societies. ... Members of the second Ku Klux Klan at a rally during the 1920s. ... The terms Neo-Nazism and Neo-Fascism refer to any social or political movement to revive Nazism or Fascism, respectively, and postdates the Second World War. ... Youths supporting Grey Wolves movement. ... The National Party (Afrikaans: Nasionale Party) (with its members sometimes known as Nationalists or Nats) was the governing party of South Africa from June 4th 1948 until May 9th 1994, and was disbanded in 2005. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP, generally pronounced as EN Double AY SEE PEE) is one of the oldest and most influential civil rights organizations in the United States. ... The Anti-Defamation League (or ADL) is an advocacy group founded by Bnai Brith in the United States whose stated aim is to stop, by appeals to reason and conscience and, if necessary, by appeals to law, the defamation of the Jewish people. ... Anti-Fascist Action (or AFA) is a British left-wing organisation founded in 1986. ... Historically, the civil rights movement was a period of time around the world of approximately one generation (1954â€“1980) wherein there was much worldwide civil unrest and popular rebellion. ... The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American non-profit legal organization, whose stated purpose is to combat racism and promote civil rights through research, education and litigation. ...

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