The Birth of a Nation

The Fiery Cross of the Ku Klux Klan!

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.

Henry B. Walthall

(Col. Ben Cameron)

Lillian Gish

(Stoneman's Daughter Elsie)

Miriam Cooper

(Margaret Cameron)

Mae Marsh

(Flora Cameron)

Mary Alden

(Stoneman's Housekeeper Lydia)

Ralph Lewis

(Leader of the House Hon. Austin Stoneman)

George Siegmann

(Lieut. Governor Silas Lynch)

Walter Long

(Gus)

Joseph Henabery

(Abraham Lincoln)

Wallace Reid

(Jeff, the Blacksmith)

Elmer Clifton

(Stoneman's Elder Son Phil)

Josephine Crowell

(Mrs. Cameron)

Spottiswoode Aitken

(Dr. Cameron)

George Beranger

(Wade Cameron)

Maxfield Stanley

(Duke Cameron)

Jennie Lee

(Mammy)

Donald Crisp

(Gen. U.S. Grant)

Howard Gaye

(Gen. Robert E. Lee)

Sam De Grasse

(Charles Sumner)

William De Vaull

(Nelse)

Willam Freeman

(Jake / Sentry at Hospital)

Tom Wilson

(Stoneman's Servant)

Fred Burns

(Klansman)

Allan Sears

(Klansman)

Elmo Lincoln

(Blacksmith)

Madame Sul-Te-Wan

(Black Woman)

Raoul Walsh

(John Wilkes Booth)

Robert Harron

(Tod)

Monte Blue

Harry Braham

(Cameron's Male Servant)

Bob Burns

(Klan Leader)

Edmund Burns

(Klansman)

Edward Burns

(Klansman)

Peggy Cartwright

(Young Girl in Cabin)

Dark Cloud

(General)

Leonore Cooper

(Elsie's Maid)

Charles Eagle Eye

(Man Who Falls from Roof)

John Ford

(Klansman)

Olga Grey

(Laura Keene)

Alberta Lee

(Mrs. Lincoln)

Betty Marsh

(Child with Dr. Cameron)

Donna Montran

(Belle of 1861)

Eugene Pallette

(Union Soldier)

Alma Rubens

(Belle of 1861)

Charles Stevens

(Volunteer)

Jules White

(Confederate Soldier)

Violet Wilkey

(Young Flora Cameron)

David Butler

(Northern Soldier / Confederate Soldier)