The Birth Of A Nation: A True Story Of A Slave Rebellion
US Civil War
Nate Parker, a well-known actor, adopts a new strategy in the movie, The Birth Of A Nation. As Parker denounces the slave owners who nearly exploited half of Southampton County, Virginia’s population in 1831, his fury bursts off the screen.
Although the film’s backdrop is Southampton, Turner’s battle in Birth of a Nation is ultimately about much more than the abuses of a slave-holding institution in a remote region of Virginia over two centuries ago.
Curious to watch this movie but have geo-restrictions? Connecting to a VPN is the most efficient and secure way to get ITV in New Zealand.
The film’s main emphasis is on the horrible injustices black people have endured in America for the past 400 years. Parker tells the tale of Nat Turner, a slave pastor who chose to use force to avenge the wrongs done to his people.
The True Story Of A Slave Rebellion
Birth Of A Nation unmistakably references every period of American history. Cherry Turner informed Nat towards the end of the film that slaveowners were killing individuals merely because they were black.
Eric Foner on the Civil War : Pulitzer Prize Winning Columbia History Professor
Birth Of A Nation invokes both the tragedies of the domestic slave trade and the African culture that the slave trade did so much to destroy.
The film’s focus becomes mostly on the sadism made possible by slavery. In addition, persisted during Restoration and the Jim Crow era.
It serves as a reminder to viewers that, long before whites like D. W. Griffith created and popularized the notion that black men commit white women’s rape. White men committed rape of black women with no regard for the repercussions.
The movie tracks Nat Turner’s development as a radical rebel. Nat was a diligent young man who probably learned to read from his white masters. He later became known as a preacher among his fellow slaves.
Slaveowners took advantage of his capacity to calm and console his brothers’ enslaved hearts because they believed the Bible taught slaves to be submissive and obedient to the white master.
Turner, however, could no longer move the other way because of the abuse he witnessed against the slaves while on his preaching tours. The more suffering he experienced, the more confrontational, defiant, and angry his sermons became.
He received a harsh penalty for this defiance. His wife became raped. But Turner refused to give in to the chain of abuse.
Parker claims that in addition to his roles as an activist and a director, he became emotionally involved in the narrative.
Since the moment he decided to make the movie, he adds, “understanding the significance of Nat Turner and conveying the story in a way that is uplifting and honest has been on my soul.”
The film’s photography attempts at historical authenticity and riveting account of institutionalized prejudice and brutality make it powerful.
You can also read What Is The True History Of St. Patrick’s Day.
Sending A Message Against Slavery
The Birth of a Nation is a sluggish burner in its initial two acts. Parker co-wrote the screenplay based on the genuine 1831 slave revolt in Virginia. Parker’s subtlety is the gears and wheels churning in Nat’s thoughts, regardless of the visual elegance.
Did he lose his temper, or was he demoralized by his own sermons? Moreover, the answer to that question is in how Nat is viewed, even though the result is an explosive conclusion that is cruel and unsettling.
History has all but convicted Nat Turner as a mass murderer. Due to collateral damage on both sides, much to what is said of Scottish freedom fighter William Wallace in English history.
Contrary to what the director would have us believe, Nat was more akin to a hero whose deeds led to a far bloodier conflict that resulted in the abolition of slavery 30 years later, thus the title.
The Revolt’s Bloody Violence
In Virginia in 1831, the rebels murdered some 60 women, men, and children, including a baby whose head was severed and put in a fireplace, according to the documents. The plan was an all-out battle.
According to Breen, the death of a “small newborn resting in a cradle” would demonstrate the rebels’ unwavering dedication if the rebels had believed that the slaughter of white people would earn them sympathy from the black community.
However, the film is at its most gory when we witness a rebel decapitate an adult male slaveowner and hold the severed head aloft.
The movie would have been substantially different if a rebel organization that murdered infants and children had become depicted. Confusions like these hinder a clearer hero’s journey storyline if you’re developing a film in Mel Gibson’s Braveheart style.
They might also invite those who want to downplay the history of slavery or avoid discussions about its effects to concentrate on the atrocities of the uprising rather than the development of bondage that led to it.
Learn more about Birth Of A Nation.
The Consequences And Legacy Of The Rebellion
The movie concludes with a montage of free and enslaved black people being murdered by frightened white people. The retribution violence used against Southampton’s black community after the uprising left a lasting impression on the neighborhood’s black population.
According to historian Manisha Sinha, “about 300 African-Americans actually left that area and went to Liberia, fearful for their life,” after the uprising.
The reaction of the white community to the uprising became split. Breen contends that the aristocracy of slaveholders who oversaw the trial had a huge amount to gain from portraying the uprising as disorganized and unsuccessful and sparing as many enslaved people’s lives as possible.
Fearful, less wealthy white people desired blood and accused the slaveowners of being unable to maintain order. This class dynamic and the account of Nat Turner’s well-known Confessions are not included in the film.
History Turns Into A Great Story
The movie’s final image shows a small child witnessing Turner’s execution. Before transitioning to the same boy battling for the Union in the Civil War centuries later.
Although there isn’t a clear historical link. Moreover, between the uprising and the conflict. Historians contend that we should view the black struggle against slavery as a continuous endeavor.
The final frame of Birth of a Nation is a great way to illustrate this link.
