The Birth of a Nation

The Birth of a Nation is a controversial, though highly influential and innovative silent film directed by D.W. Griffith, based on Thomas Dixon's novels The Clansman (also a play) and The Leopard's Spots. It was released in 1915 and has been credited with securing the future of feature length films (any film over an hour in length) as well as solidifying the codes of film language. The film premiered on February 8, 1915 in Los Angeles, California under the title The Clansman, but three months later was retitled with the present title at its world premiere in New York.

Political influence

The film created a nationwide craze for the Ku Klux Klan. At a preview in Los Angeles, actors dressed as Klansmen were hired to ride by as a promotional stunt, and real-life members of the newly reorganized Klan rode up and down the street at its later official premiere in Atlanta. In some cases, enthusiastic southern audiences fired their guns into the screen. Along with the lynching of Leo Frank in the same year, the film was one of the major factors that built momentum for the organization of the second Ku Klux Klan at Stone Mountain, Georgia, in 1915, after a period of dormancy that had lasted since federal suppression of the first Klan in 1877.

Related Topics:
Ku Klux Klan - Leo Frank - Stone Mountain

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Woodrow Wilson's "History of the American People" is repeatedly quoted in The Birth of a Nation, and Wilson, on seeing the film in a special White House screening on February 18, 1915, exclaimed, "It is like writing history with lightning, and my only regret is that it is all so terribly true." Wilson's family had sympathized with the Confederacy during the Civil War, and cared for wounded Confederate soldiers at a church. When he was a young man, his party had vigorously opposed Reconstruction, and as president he resegregated part of the federal government for the first time since Reconstruction. Given the film's strong Democratic partisan message and Wilson's documented views on race, it is not unreasonable to interpret the statement as supporting the Klan, and the word "regret" as referring to the film's depiction of Radical Republican Reconstruction. Later correspondence with Griffith confirms his enthusiasm about the film. Wilson's remarks were widely reported, and immediately became controversial. Wilson tried to remain aloof from the controversy, but finally, on April 30, issued a non-denial denial.

Related Topics:
Woodrow Wilson - Radical Republican - Reconstruction - Non-denial denial

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