Premiere of The Birth of a Nation

On February 8, 1915, D. W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation premiered in Las Angeles under the title The Clansman (it was based on a book of that name). The film has become more famous for its depiction of 20^th century racial stereotypes than the history of the Civil War and Reconstruction era that it sought to depict. The NAACP protested the film from its debut, citing its racist depiction of African Americans. View an article from the Cleveland Advocate protesting the showing of The Birth of the Nation upon its initial release here. 

            The plot of the film revolves around two white families from the north and south during and after the Civil War. It recasts Lincoln as a figure sympathetic to the south and shows a post war south ruined by carpetbaggers, free men and radical Republicans. In the film, the south is only redeemed by the formation of the Ku Klux Klan. The Klan emerge as heroes in the film. In fact, due to their positive depiction in the film, the KKK used it a recruiting tool until the early 1970s.

            Black filmmakers who were unsuccessful in banning The Birth of a Nation set out to make their own films to correct the racism they saw in Griffith’s film. A group of independent black filmmakers released director Emmett J. Scott’s The Birth of Race in 1919 as a counter argument to Griffith’s depiction of African-Americans, but it was largely ignored.

 With such strong racism throughout the film, you might be asking why this film is remembered at all? Why don’t we just let it die off in historical memory? Well, the film is also one of the first in film history to make use of close-ups, the iris effect, cross cutting between scenes to create suspense, and featured an original score to be performed live in the theater by an orchestra. These innovations, among others, continue to land The Birth of a Nation on lists of the all time best films. The film was also one of the earliest attempts to construct a history using the medium of film, as opposed to print culture.

Birth of a Nation was the first film to be viewed in the White House, and when President Woodrow Wilson saw it he said it was “like writing history with lightning.” We may find the kind of history Griffith depicted in The Birth of a Nation to be morally repugnant, but it did lay a foundation for filmmakers to use film as a way of getting at historical issues and questions.

Here is trailer of The Birth of a Nation:

[Image via moviegoings]

These Dead Shall Not Have Died in Vain – Lincoln Delivers the Gettysburg Address

On November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln delivered one of the most famous speeches in American history. Lincoln was invited to attend the consecration of a cemetery for the Union war dead. For the occasion, he was asked to provide a “few appropriate remarks,” by David Wills, the man charged by the Pennsylvania governor to clean up the aftermath of the battle of Gettysburg.
Wills also asked Edward Everett, a famous orator, to offer remarks at the ceremony. Famously, Everett went on for over two hours before Lincoln spoke. After Everett finally retired, Lincoln rose and delivered what many considered at the time to be an all too brief speech. What is enduring about that ceremony are not the two hours worth of oratory provided by Everett, which have now been forgotten. Instead, generations of Americans have honored how much Lincoln was able to say about that moment in our nation’s history with so few words. First, he honored the dead who had given their lives in the civil war. Beyond that, he also hinted at what his vision of a post- war America might be like, calling for a “new birth of freedom.”
Lincoln served as his own speechwriter. My esteem for him as president only grows when I think that he not only handled the incredible difficulty of governing during the war with grace, but still managed to write words that make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up one hundred and forty-six years later. I always think the power of great speeches is evident when we hear them read aloud, so I have attached a reading of the Gettysburg Address.



Check out an online exhibit on the Gettysburg Address at the Library of Congress.

[Images via Library of Congress]

Murdered by a Traitor and Coward Whose Name is not Worthy to Appear Here. – the Birthday of Jesse James (September 5, 1847-April 3, 1882)

Today would have been the 162nd birthday of Jesse James. James is known in American history and culture for his celebrity outlaw status, having robbed many banks and trains. He has also been celebrated in popular culture for his dramatic death at the hands of fellow bank robber, Robert Ford.
The life of Jesse James is indicative of the prickly nature of living in a border state during and after the American Civil War. He was born and raised in Missouri and sided with the Confederacy during the war. Throughout the conflict, James fought with Confederate sympathizers in the guerrilla warfare that gripped the state. After the war, James and others started to rob banks and trains, claiming that they were targeting Unionists who attacked the confederacy during the war. After killing a man in cold bold during a bank robbery, James even took to publishing letters in a local newspaper edited by a fellow confederate sympathizer in the hopes of winning public support for his actions. Although the government and security companies hired by banks and railroads chased him unceasingly, James met his end at the hands of his supposed bank-robbing partner, Robert Ford. Ford was a new recruit to James’ gang, who was helping James and others prepare for a bank robbery on the day of James’ death. Unbeknownst to James, Robert Ford had been negotiating with the Governor of Missouri to capture James. When James removed his weapons while preparing for the day’s robbery, Robert Ford shot James in the back of his head. Ford and his brother, also a member of James’ gang, were arrested for his murder and sentenced to death, only to be quickly pardoned by the governor. Jesse James was buried under a marker bearing an epitaph written by his mother: “In Memory of my Beloved Son, Murdered by a Traitor and Coward Whose Name is not Worthy to Appear Here.”
Since his death, James’ legacy has been shaped by different events in American history and depicted in different formats, from dime store novels to films to popular songs. People close to Jesse James even profited from his death soon after the fact. His mother Zereida was offered $10,000 for the body, which she refused. She did, however, charge a fee for those who wanted to take a pebble from her son’s grave. James’ children also appeared in a film about his life entitled Jesse James Under the Black Flag. A song bearing his name has also been recorded by such artists as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and Bruce Springsteen on his 2006 album We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions. The most recent cultural homage to James would be 2007’s The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. No matter if he is viewed as a tragic hero, victim of circumstance, or villain, it seems as if Jesse James will continue to hold a place in the American cultural imagination for many years to come.

For more about Jesse James including a timeline, photos, teachers guides, online polls and games visit PBS here.

[Image via Wikimedia]