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.
Henry B. Walthall
as Col. Ben Cameron
Lillian Gish
as Stoneman's Daughter Elsie
Miriam Cooper
as Margaret Cameron
Mae Marsh
as Flora Cameron
Mary Alden
as Stoneman's Housekeeper Lydia
Ralph Lewis
as Leader of the House Hon. Austin Stoneman
George Siegmann
as Lieut. Governor Silas Lynch
Walter Long
as Gus
Joseph Henabery
as Abraham Lincoln
Wallace Reid
as Jeff, the Blacksmith
Elmer Clifton
as Stoneman's Elder Son Phil
Josephine Crowell
as Mrs. Cameron
