

The Birth of a Nation
"The Fiery Cross of the Ku Klux Klan!"
Overview
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.
Movie Details
Budget
$100K
$100,000
Revenue
$11.0M
$11,000,000
Languages
No Language
Studio
Epoch Film Co.
Key Crew

Frank E. Woods
Screenplay

D.W. Griffith
Writer

D.W. Griffith
Producer

D.W. Griffith
Director
Cast

Lillian Gish
Stoneman's Daughter Elsie

Mae Marsh
Flora Cameron

Henry B. Walthall
Col. Ben Cameron

Miriam Cooper
Margaret Cameron

Mary Alden
Stoneman's Housekeeper Lydia

Ralph Lewis
Leader of the House Hon. Austin Stoneman

George Siegmann
Lieut. Governor Silas Lynch

Walter Long
Gus

Robert Harron
Tod

Wallace Reid
Jeff, the Blacksmith

Joseph Henabery
Abraham Lincoln

Elmer Clifton
Stoneman's Elder Son Phil

Josephine Crowell
Mrs. Cameron

Spottiswoode Aitken
Dr. Cameron

George Beranger
Wade Cameron

Maxfield Stanley
Duke Cameron

Jennie Lee
Mammy

Donald Crisp
Gen. U.S. Grant

Howard Gaye
Gen. Robert E. Lee

Sam De Grasse
Senator Charles Sumner (uncredited)