The Birth of a Nation - Full Movie - (1915) HD - The Masterpiece of Racist Cinema

Ultimately, the Civil War was about States Rights. In this case, the State's right to own people and treat them as less than human. Which is why the Confederate flag evokes so much fear for minorities, which were the frequent target of murder (lynching) that was fully permitted by said States. I generally am for "State's Rights" as a concept, but crazy ideas like that are not tolerable. The shockwaves emancipation sent through the south left lingering tensions. Like the Nazi film "Triumph of the Will", D. W. Griffith has created a work of art that ultimately... openly... promotes evil. This film is one of the reasons for the "lazy, criminal rapist black men" stereotypes that still pervade American popular culture to some degree today. Let's use this as a learning tool to improve racial harmony. Get to the root of the myth.

However, this video is one I am posting in recognition of emancipation day. Upper Canada ended slavery in 1810, this becoming a haven for runaway slaves from the American colonies. Windsor Ontario (the Canadian city south of Detroit) has been celebrating Emancipation day since the 1930's. Known as "The Greatest Freedom Show on Earth".

Learn more!

The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 ended slavery in the British Empire on August 1, 1834, and thus also in Canada. However, the first colony in the British Empire to abolish slavery was Upper Canada, now Ontario. John Graves Simcoe, the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada (1791–1796), passed an Act Against Slavery in 1793, which led to the abolition of slavery in Upper Canada by 1810. It was superseded by the Slavery Abolition Act 1833.

The Birth of a Nation (originally called The Clansman) is a 1915 American silent epic drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and based on the novel and play The Clansman, both by Thomas Dixon, Jr. Griffith co-wrote the screenplay (with Frank E. Woods), and co-produced the film (with Harry Aitken). It was released on February 8, 1915.

The film chronicles the relationship of two families in the American Civil War and Reconstruction era: the pro-Union Northern Stonemans and the pro-Confederacy Southern Camerons over the course of several years. The assassination of President Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth is dramatized.

The film was a commercial success, though it was highly controversial owing to its portrayal of black men (some played by white actors in blackface) as unintelligent and sexually aggressive towards white women, and the portrayal of the Ku Klux Klan (whose original founding is dramatized) as a heroic force. There were widespread African-American protests against The Birth of a Nation, such as in Boston, while thousands of white Bostonians flocked to see the film. The NAACP spearheaded an unsuccessful campaign to ban the film. Griffith's indignation at efforts to censor or ban the film motivated him to produce Intolerance the following year.

The film is also credited as one of the events that inspired the formation of the "second era" Ku Klux Klan at Stone Mountain, Georgia, in the same year. The Birth of a Nation was used as a recruiting tool for the KKK. Under President Woodrow Wilson it was the first American motion picture to be screened at the White House, although in 1914 the Italian film Cabiria had been shown on the White House lawn.

Griffith's innovative techniques and storytelling power have made The Birth of a Nation one of the landmarks of film history.
For The Birth of a Nation, composer Joseph Carl Breil created a three-hour-long musical score that combined all three types of music in use at the time: adaptations of existing works by classical composers, new arrangements of well-known melodies, and original composed music. Outside of original compositions, Breil adapted classical music for use in the film, including passages from Der Freischütz by Carl Maria von Weber, Leichte Kavallerie by Franz von Suppé, Symphony No. 6 by Ludwig van Beethoven, and Ride of the Valkyries by Richard Wagner, the latter used as a leitmotif during the ride of the KKK. Breil also arranged several traditional and popular tunes that would have been recognizable to audiences at the time, including many Southern melodies; among these songs were "Maryland, My Maryland", "Dixie", "Old Folks at Home", "The Star-Spangled Banner", "America the Beautiful", "The Battle Hymn of the Republic", "Auld Lang Syne", and "Where Did You Get That Hat?". In his original compositions for the film, Breil wrote numerous leitmotifs to accompany the appearance of specific characters. The principal love theme that was created for the romance between Elsie Stoneman and Ben Cameron was published as "The Perfect Song" and is regarded as the first marketed "theme song" from a film; it was later even used as the theme song for the popular radio and television sitcom Amos 'n' Andy.

[LGCOOL]

Grabbing my popcorn... hoping to see a family friendly movie which shares the message of love and tolerance for the next 3 hours .

[TrulyAGhost]

You can not erase history, for it has already been written, but if one refuses to learn from it, sadly one if not all is doomed to repeat it.

[TurnerZypsy]

It’s pretty insane to think that we went from this to Gone With the Wind in just 24 years.

[MichaelJ]

Say what you want, but to watch a black and white silent film in 1915 for 3 hours, that’s some dedication

[firdawsbounagui]

19 minutes in and i've already graduated college, moved to LA, attended my first movie premiere, got married, and received an Oscar.

[ambiguousaesthetic]

I swear they’ve been leaving for war for 40 minutes now

[AssassinKillua]

It's a horrible message, but the existence of this movie should still be known and available. A piece of history no matter how terrible it was. The more we forget..the more we repeat ourselves.

It's actually kind of impressive that their hatred for black people was so high that they made a 3 hour movie about it. Not even 20 mins. but 3 hours. That's some crazy dedication.

[darthtitteous]

Pretty fucking hilarious how they canonically decided to make the origin story of the KKK some guy watching some kids play a game of “Boo I’m a Spooky Ghost” with some bed sheets and thought to himself “that’s a marvellous idea”.

[jokerproduction]

Imagine how boring 1915 was to sit through 3 hours of this and call it entertainment.

[llidkram]

Check this one off my bucket list. For years I have wanted to watch the silent film, "Birth of a Nation." Finding time to focus on a silent movie for nearly three and one-half hours was beyond difficult. I broke it into segments and got through it over about a week. It is a true cinematic masterpiece. With none of the special effects technology in the ensuing decades and certainly no CGI we see today, it is a marvel. The elaborate sets, costumes, and smoky battle scenes are amazing if you think of the resources producer DW Griffith had to work with.

A cinematic masterpiece, yes, but also intense racist gaslighting. The movie is basically broken into two chapters: Civil War and post-war Reconstruction. While the war story culminating with the Lincoln assassination is Confederate-slanted, the story of Reconstruction is flat-out racist. Blacks are represented as corrupt and oppressive to whites.

The heroes? The Ku Klux Klan. They organized, took up arms, and rose up to beat back the black menace. This was heralded throughout America as good and just. The goal was to restore America - especially the South - to its greatness, its old way of life.

Keep in mind this film is distinguished as the first movie to have a White House viewing. This came under the administration of Woodrow Wilson who hosted an elaborate dinner party with choice political leaders and influencers across the country. In addition to that premiere showing at the White House in 1915, the movie was re-released 15 years later at the end of the silent film era in 1930.

I mention this because the film continues to echo a bigoted message today. This is not because a significant number of Americans are watching it, but because the ugly message it carries is a narrative that was passed down through generations. Tens of millions of Americans look at our cultural past through the gauzy lens of nostalgic remembrance of American life. This was true in the 1870s, 1915, 1930, and today. They just deny any attempt to bring our society to face its terrible practices.

This amazing artifact of American media culture should be folded into the lesson plans of university and high school history classes. Break it into segments for homework and then use that to fuel classroom discussion. It should be dissected to understand its historical context and how it contributed to today's behavior. The past never leaves us, it informs us and lives within us. The good, the bad, and the disturbingly hateful.

[mcah]

This film was one of the main reasons the KKK came back.

[evanmoll]

Well...the puppies in the beginning are cute.

[EricaYE]

I have the day off from work today, Sunday, and decided to finally watch this. Thanks for uploading the entire movie instead of a playlist full of clips. That was the only way I could watch it in the past and couldn't get through it.

[dannymirjanovic]

Love how they use black face actors next to real black people and they act like it doesn't look fucking stupid

[tyrian_baal]

Funny thing, the director of this movie went on to make "Intolerance" which explored themes of intolerance in response to this movie, I recommend giving it a watch

[christiandiaz]

Mom said it’s my turn to choose the movie for family movie night.

[nickminadeo]

Everyone in this film is dead...

Edit: I know it's obvious they're dead and that D.W. Griffith was racist, my point was that it's crazy watching a real film where all the actors are dead. This is watching real history. I just think that's cool.

[gagesilva]

It’s so crazy to believe how strongly people can hate another person purely on their skin color, smh

[davidledford]

We are the first generations to be able to watch film from 100 years ago

[brildidge]

Can you believe that this story was written by a church minister ?? What part of Jesus' message of love did he not understand ?