The Civil War (1990)

S1E1 The Cause: 1861

This gripping premiere episode opens with a powerful condemnation of slavery, exploring the factors that ignited the Civil War, from the Southern Cotton Kingdom to the Northern abolitionists who fought against it. It raises pivotal issues surrounding Union versus States' rights, highlights John Brown's raid at Harper's Ferry, and discusses Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860. The episode depicts the attack on Fort Sumter and the fervent enlistment of soldiers on both sides. Key historical figures such as Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Robert E. Lee, and Ulysses S. Grant are introduced, culminating in the painful Union loss at Manassas, where both factions realize the conflict will be protracted.