 The film concludes with the surrender of General Cornwallis and the presidential inauguration of George Washington.Griffith used many popular movie actors at the time, but he felt that there was no need for them to play the roles in his films, and could not afford most of them anyway, after they began to consume nearly all of his money in expensive productions.As a result, Lillian Gish, who acted in a well known film of his, "Orphans of the Storm", departed him after he could not pay any more for her services, and left him with Carol Dempster, who had far less appeal than Gish.