Birth of a Nation Research (BSA 106)

BIRTH OF A NATION

The Birth of a Nation is a drama film directed by D.W. Griffith on 1915 and starring Lilian Gish. This film was adapted from the novel "The Clansman:An Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan" which was written by Thomas Dixon Jr.. The screenplay was done both by Frank E. Woods and Griffith.

The film tells a story about two families. One is the Northern Stonemans (US Representative Austin Stoneman with his two sons and a daughter named Elise), while the other is the Southern Stonemans (Dr. Cameron with his wife, two daughters, and three sons). In short, one of Cameron's son named Ben likes Elise, which is the daughter of Austin from the Northern Stonemans. The film portrays Ben Cameron as the hero at The Siege of Petersburg.

In the second part of the film: Reconstruction, KKK or we know as Ku Klux Klan is the one who use the film as a recruiting tool.

The African American man portrayed as a state legislators, judges, juries, voters and armed soldiers.

Four years later, a new film called  Within Our Gates by Oscar Micheaux was made. It is said as a response to Birth of a Nation because it still portrays the racial situations in US especially on the early of 20 centuries. The film has the similar theme as Birth of a Nation that tells the story of racism.

The name of Griffiths follow up film is The Fall of a Nation which was released in 1916 as the sequel of the first film, The Birth of a Nation.