The South

The main purpose of The Birth of a Nation is to show us how wonderful the South was before the Civil War, and how this veritable Eden was sullied by a crummy bunch of carpetbaggers.

We don't agree...but it's still important to examine the film's setting on its own terms.

Days of Yore

The pre-war South is depicted as an idyllic place. We see the beautiful countryside. We see palatial mansions. We even see gaggles of kittens and puppies ambling about, which is meant to associate the South with innocence—an innocence that will eventually be sullied by the Civil War. Although we might disagree with Griffith's assessment of the situation, there's no doubt about what he's trying to get across.

Of course, this description misses out on one very important detail about the pre-war South: it was fueled by slavery. We actually see shockingly little of this widespread institution in the first half of the film, and what little we do see—slaves dancing happily outside of their encampment—is meant to convince us that slavery wasn't all that bad.

Spoiler alert: it was that bad. Griffith is clearly guiding our tour in a specific direction.

The Times They Are A'Changin'

Things change during the Civil War. The once-bustling town of Piedmont is now under constant attack by guerilla forces. Consider the Cameron mansion. What once was a ritzy abode is now ramshackle and bare, as the Camerons have donated much of their money and belongings to the Confederate cause. This is meant to represent the toll that the Civil War has taken on the South.

More changes come during the Reconstruction Era, which is the period of post-war recovery that occurs in the South. This mostly involves race relations, as we now see black people walking along the streets as freely as white people. That doesn't seem like a bad thing, right?

Well, not according to Griffith. He believes that the rightful order of things is that white people are in charge. What's more, he attributes this societal shift away from white supremacy to the intrusion of Northerners in Southern politics.

Revisionists Anonymous

While Griffith is touching on a bunch of real history here, he's heavily manipulating it to fit his prejudices. It's certainly true that the South was more affected by the Civil War than the North—but it's not true that the South was a wonderful land of sunshine and puppies before the war. It's certainly true that Northern politicians known as the "Radical Republicans" advocated for harsh policies during the Reconstruction Era—but it's not true that they instigated a racial conspiracy to overthrow the Southern aristocracy.

Like everything else in The Birth of a Nation, the setting of the film is distorted to make the South seem as perfect as possible. This dynamic is true in many films, of course, but rarely is it as blatant as it is here.