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.

• Frank E. WoodsScreenplay
• Jon MirsalisOriginal Music Composer
• D.W. GriffithWriter
• D.W. GriffithOriginal Music Composer
• D.W. GriffithDirector

• Lillian GishStoneman's Daughter Elsie
• Mae MarshFlora Cameron
• Henry B. WalthallCol. Ben Cameron
• Miriam CooperMargaret Cameron
• Mary AldenStoneman's Housekeeper Lydia
• Ralph LewisLeader of the House Hon. Austin Stoneman
• George SiegmannLieut. Governor Silas Lynch
• Walter LongGus
• Robert HarronTod
• Wallace ReidJeff, the Blacksmith
• Joseph HenaberyAbraham Lincoln
• Elmer CliftonStoneman's Elder Son Phil