The Birth of a Nation¹⁹¹⁵

Two families, abolitionist Northerners the Stonemans and Southern landowners the Camerons, intertwine. When Confederate colonel Ben Cameron is captured in battle, nurse Elsie Stoneman petitions for his pardon. In Reconstruction-era South Carolina, Cameron founds the Ku Klux Klan, battling Elsie's congressman father and his African-American protégé, Silas Lynch.

Released in 1915, the silent film is considered to be historically significant, but is highly controversial. It shows African-American people in strongly derogatory stereotypes and glorifies the Ku Klux Klan as the supposed "savior" of the South. This racist portrayal shaped the image of US history for decades and provoked protests and calls for boycotts even back then.