Civil Rights Movement and The Clansman
"The film is many things: repulsive, naive, biased, simplistic, historically inaccurate and astonishing in its view of history and racist glorification of the KKK. Yet it tremendously significant and powerful work of art with extraordinary effect and brilliantly-filmed sequences" (Dirks). The movie was based on one man's simple but yet repulsive story. The flaw in past American actions that can well be seen is in a group of white men named the Klu Klux Klan, who were re-influenced into their hateful rage by one man's Romantic novel, called The Clansman.The book, The Clansman-An Historical Romance of the Klu Klux Klan, was written by Thomas Dixon Jr. Growing up during the reconstruction era, he was imbued with the folk image of the Klan as the savior of the south (Kinney). When he grew up he wrote 22 novels and plays about social defects, but before that he was a southern minister. He befriended 3 presidents, including Woodrow Wilson (Cook) who he attended John Hopkins University with. As a student reading Darwin, Huxley, and Spencer, he suffered a brief period of religious doubt. But he rebounded stronger and went on to lecture on denying blacks of political equality an
Through the success of the book, Dixon created a play that then toured the nation. Dixon himself took a leading role and the news of the play soon caught the attention of David Griffith. When he created his version, The Birth of a Nation, of the book, not only did it include the story itself, but it also traced the nation history. Everything from bringing of the first slaves to the Civil War and the horrors of the Reconstruction was included in his 2 hour and 45 minute movie, making it the first full-length picture in history (Dirks). In theaters the movie was shown to sold-out crowds with 2-dollar admission price, which at the time was unheard-of (because in past times movies were general 5 cents to a quarter). In many occasions viewers were so riled up by the story line they would shout and cheer and in one occasion men pulled out the guns and shoot up the screen in order to save the heroine from her rapist (Cook). Along side the ad for the movie in the newspaper ran announcements for a new organization for a "high class order of men of intelligence and character". d denying women of working out of the house (Kinney) All though, his work is mainly shunned, Dixon clearly
Some common words found in the essay are:
Huxley Spencer, Civil War, Klux Klan, , Jr Growing, Birth Nation, American Flag, klux klan, klu klux klan, Klu Klux, klu klux, David Griffith, Hopkins University, savior south, birth nation, novels plays,
Approximate Word count = 795
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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