Birth of a Nation
Plot Summary
Part one opens in pre-Civil War America with
the descriptions of two families: the Stonemans, a northern family led by
an abolitionist Congressman Austin Stoneman who has a daughter Elsie and
two sons; and the Southern Camerons who have two daughters, Margaret and
Flora, and three sons including the central character Ben Cameron. The
Stoneman boys are friends with the Camerons and visit their South Carolina
estate, where the grandeur and hospitality of the Old South still exists,
as does slavery. There, the eldest Stoneman boy becomes enamored of
Margaret Cameron, and Ben Cameron is given a picture of Elsie Stoneman,
who he begins to idealize. The Civil War begins, and all of the sons from
both families join their respective sides. The Cameron house is ransacked
by a black militia led by a white captain, but a Confederate unit
eventually shows up to drive off these intruders. As the War drags on, the
youngest Stoneman boy is killed, as are two of the Cameron's sons. Ben
Cameron survives but is injured, and he recuperates in a Northern hospital
where Elsie is a nurse. Lincoln's assassination at Ford's theater is
dramatized, and his death allows political leaders, such as Austin
Stoneman, to pursue their agenda of punishing the South for their
secession.
Part two begins and attempts to illustrate the period of Reconstruction
following the Civil War. Stoneman and his mulatto protege Silas Lynch go
to South Carolina to see their plans to empower Southern blacks carried
out as their factions sweep the elections. Ben Cameron intends to strike
back against the perceived powerlessness of Southern whites by forming the
Ku Klux Klan, and his participation in this group distances him from Elsie
Stoneman. Later, a former slave, Gus, hints at wanting to marry Flora
Cameron, and she runs off into the forest with him in pursuit. Trapped by
him on a precipice, Flora jumps to her death rather than let him catch
her. The Klan tracks down Gus, hangs him, and deposits his body at the
door of Lieutenant Governor Silas Lynch's house. Lynch retaliates by
ordering that Klan members be hunted down and executed. The Cameron
household escapes his militia and take refuge in an isolated country home.
Meanwhile, with Austin Stoneman out of town, Lynch attempts to force Elsie
to marry him. Disguised Klan spies find her screaming for help and ride
off for reinforcements. The Klan speeds to her rescue and clears the rest
of the unruly blacks out of town. Elsewhere, the militia is about to close
in on the trapped Cameron family, when the Klan approaches to make their
second successful rescue. A celebration follows as the white-robed heroes
triumphantly ride through the streets, and we leap forward to the next
election day where Klan members supervise the proceedings and prevent
blacks from voting. The film ends with a double honeymoon of Phil Stoneman
and Maragaret Cameron and Ben Cameron with Elsie Stoneman. A final
allegorical image shows masses of suffering people under a warlike ruler
transformed into angelic figures under an representation of Christ, and it
is accompanied by a title asking if we dare dream of a day when war shall
rule no more.
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