The Birth of a Nation poster

Movie profile

The Birth of a Nation

The Fiery Cross of the Ku Klux Klan!

5.9/ 1019153h 15mNR

DramaHistoryWar

Two families, abolitionist Northerners the Stonemans and Southern landowners the Camerons, intertwine. When Confederate colonel Ben Cameron is captured in battle, nurse Elsie Stoneman petitions for his pardon. In Reconstruction-era South Carolina, Cameron founds the Ku Klux Klan, battling Elsie's congressman father and his African-American protégé, Silas Lynch.

Directed by D.W. Griffith

Visual gallery

Behind the frames

8 stills

The Birth of a Nation still 1

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The cast

Faces behind the story

Lillian Gish

Lillian Gish

Stoneman's Daughter Elsie

Mae Marsh

Mae Marsh

Flora Cameron

Henry B. Walthall

Henry B. Walthall

Col. Ben Cameron

Miriam Cooper

Miriam Cooper

Margaret Cameron

Mary Alden

Mary Alden

Stoneman's Housekeeper Lydia

Ralph Lewis

Ralph Lewis

Leader of the House Hon. Austin Stoneman

George Siegmann

George Siegmann

Lieut. Governor Silas Lynch

Walter Long

Walter Long

Gus