Analysis Of Birth Of A Nation

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In the movie Birth of a Nation, the first half of the story is based off the Civil War, and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan. The movie is divided into two parts, Pre-Civil War America and Reconstruction. After covering the Civil War, the story starts to introduce the Southern Camerons and Northern Stonemans. Birth of a Nation is told from the perspectives of these two families. The rise of the Ku Klux Klan, and Reconstruction is introduced in the second half. In the second half of the movie, racism becomes more apparent. The nation is torn apart, and African Americans are blamed for this complication, after the Civil War African Americans migrated to the South, and clashing with the North. There was major effects on the South after the war. …show more content…

W. Griffith wanted to show that blacks were inferior to the white population. African Americans were considered, uneducated, monsters, and violent. Throughout the film whites were trying their hardest to keep African Americans from gaining too much power, or any power at all. D. W. Griffith wanted to convey the message that it was a mistake to give black people freedom, and African Americans were not smart enough to handle power or freedom. In certain scenes, director D. W. Griffith showed blackface actors acting violent, drunk, and smoking. Throughout the film there were lynchings to put black people back where they belonged. If there were any black actors throughout the movie, they were either servants or slaves. In a scene with African Americans being servants, there are smiles on their faces, and what seems to be happiness while being servants. White people started to get the message that African Americans were happy to be subservient to whites. D. W. Griffith was telling this story through the eyes of a white man, he wanted whites to believe that slavery was wonderful for African Americans, and that they always wanted to work for whites. There was not a very positive relationship between African Americans and whites throughout the movie. Although a law was passed for interracial marriage, it was still not accepted by either

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