“The Birth of a Nation”

The Civil War divides friends and destroys families, but that's nothing compared to the anarchy in the black-ruled South after the war. Two brothers, Phil and Ted Stoneman, visit their friends in Piedmont, South Carolina: the family Cameron. This friendship is affected by the Civil War, as the Stonemans and the Camerons must join up opposite armies. The consequences of the war in their lives are shown in connection to major historical events, like the development of the Civil War itself, Lincoln's assassination, and the birth of the Ku Klux Klan. Through these events, the stereotypes of the South are exploited.

There are many good representations of Southern stereotypes, mentioned in class, exposed in the movie. Ben Cameron is the perfect example of the “Cavalier” stereotype.

Ben Cameron is a member of a class of land-owning farmers, in the civil war period of America’s history. He fights proudly for The Confederacy during the civil, and somehow lives through it. He is nicknamed “the little colonel” and his strength and ambition is proven in his final desperate assault on the Union forces, charging down the road, confederate flag in had, onto the Union entrenchment line. Ben has the utmost respect for his love Elise Stoneman, and treats her with honor and dignity. His dedication to the South forces him to become part of the KKK in order to scare the black and keep them in their place, to counteract “the Black Menace, “ and restore order – thereby saving the south. He and the Klan vow revenge on Flora’s death, which is regarded as “a priceless sacrifice on the altar of an outraged civilization.” Here again he shows the honor he has for his younger sister.

The stereotype of the slave is represented very vividly. They are first inroduced in the first minutes of the movie. The are shown being brought to America and sold at auction. The movie depicts the slaves as being content with their cotton picking lives, and even happily dancing for the entertainment of their white masters. The slaves are seen as very loyal to their owners, and the movie leads you to believe that their freedom is a hassle and inconvenience once they are freed.

The third intense stereotype in the movie is of the free blacks. The stereotype shows the freed black legislators as being power-crazy, shiftless, lazy, and stupid. In the legislature they are shown behaving in a disgraceful manner, sprawled out with their bare feet on their desks. This stereotype seems contradictory to what we have read in class about the freed blacks.

I enjoyed this movie, because it succeeded in aggravating me in a way that helped me to understand these southern stereotypes. These stereotypes shaped the south into being a place of simplicity, honor, ignorance, and uncertainty. The movie reinforced most of these stereotypes, and seemed to be directed in sympathy to a southern biased cause. I would hope the movies purpose is not to give recognition to the, “’birth’ of the Invisible Empire - the Ku Klux Klan, but to the re-established 'united' states.”