How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation.
Quote #1
[Austin Stoneman awkwardly readjusts his wig while meeting with Charles Sumner.]
This is a subtle way of making Stoneman seem phony. They don't show Charles Sumner adjusting his wig, after all, and he's supposed to be the good guy in this scene.
Quote #2
AUSTIN STONEMAN: Their leaders must be hanged and their states treated as conquered provinces.
LINCOLN: I shall deal with them as if they never were away.
This shows the two predominant trains of thought in the aftermath of the Civil War. One sought to make the reconstruction process as unobtrusive as possible; one sought to receive restitution for this massive calamity. Griffith is obviously manipulating these perspectives a bit, but both sides have a degree of validity.
Quote #3
INTERTITLE: The uncrowned king. The Executive Mansion of the Nation has shifted from the White House to this strange house on the Capitol Hill.
After Lincoln's death, Stoneman becomes the unofficial leader of Washington. Griffith obviously sees this as a negative thing, describing him as a "king," which has nasty connotations in America. To push this further, he depicts Stoneman as becoming drunk off power almost immediately. He's a total lightweight.