What historical periods are depicted in The Birth of a Nation?

The Birth of a Nation (1915), directed by D.W. Griffith, depicts two primary historical periods in the United States:

• The American Civil War: The first half of the film covers the period from the outbreak of the American Civil War (1861–1865) through the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.12
• Reconstruction: The concluding section of the film dramatizes the Reconstruction era that followed the war.12

The film is widely recognized for its technical innovations in cinema, yet it is also fundamentally condemned for its overt racism and its positive portrayal of the Ku Klux Klan, which the film depicts as a heroic force during the Reconstruction period. This bigoted narrative sparked significant protests led by organizations such as the NAACP, as the film’s release contributed to a major revival of the Klan.12