Summary
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.
Details
Release Date: March 8, 1915
Runtime: 195 minutes
Genres: Drama, History, War
Original Language: EN
Rating: ⭐ 6.0/10 (566 votes)
The Life of a Nation Collection

The Birth of a Nation
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.

The Fall of a Nation
A sequel to DW Griffith's The Birth of a Nation, by the same author, and now lost. It is considered the first film sequel ever made and recounts a fictional invasion of America by a united army from Europe.
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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

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)

Tom Wilson
Stoneman's Servant (uncredited)

Fred Burns
Klansman (uncredited)

Allan Sears
Klansman (uncredited)

Elmo Lincoln
Blacksmith (uncredited)

Madame Sul-Te-Wan
Black Woman (uncredited)

Monte Blue
(uncredited)

Bob Burns
Klan Leader (uncredited)

Edmund Burns
Klansman (uncredited)

Peggy Cartwright
Young Girl in Cabin (uncredited)

Dark Cloud
General (uncredited)

Olga Grey
Laura Keene (uncredited)

Alberta Lee
Mrs. Lincoln (uncredited)

Eugene Pallette
Union Soldier (uncredited)

Alma Rubens
Belle of 1861 (uncredited)

Charles Stevens
Volunteer (uncredited)

Mary Wynn




