- The Clansman
"The Clansman" is the title of a novel published in 1905 and the play based on it. It was the second work in the
Ku Klux Klan trilogy by Thomas F. Dixon, Jr. that included "The Leopard's Spots " and "The Traitor". It was influential in providing the mythology and ideology that helped support the revival of theKu Klux Klan (KKK). The novel received most exposure as the basis of the 1915 silent movie "The Birth of a Nation ". Many advocates forAfrican-American rights associated the film'sracism with Dixon rather than with directorD. W. Griffith .Fact|date=August 2008The play particularly inspired the second half of "The Birth of a Nation", as it was concerned with the KKK and Reconstruction rather than the
American Civil War . According to ProfessorRussell Merritt , key differences between the play and film are said to include the fact that Dixon was more sympathetic to Southerners' pursuing education and modern professions, whereas Griffith stressed ownership of plantations; moreover, Dixon envisioned the KKK as more organized and structured than it was.Dixon wrote "The Clansman" as a message to Northerners to maintain
racial segregation , as the work claimed that blacks when free turned savage.References
*Russell Merritt, "Dixon, Griffith, and the Southern Legend." "Cinema Journal", Vol. 12, No. 1. (Autumn, 1972).
External links
* [http://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/dixonclan/ Full Text with Illustrations]
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