The Civil War: Season 1

Examining the causes of the American Civil War, beginning with a searing indictment of slavery and a dramatic depiction of the causes of the American Civil War.

The year 1862 saw the birth of modern warfare and political infighting in Lincoln's administration as the president shifted the emphasis from preserving the Union to emancipating slaves.

After years spent waiting for a Union victory over the Confederacy, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in the wake of a bloody but indecisive battle at Antietam in September 1862.

Exploring Northern opposition to Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation and the Union disaster at Fredericksburg that prefaced further successes for the Confederacy at Chancellorsville before Lee again invaded the North.

The turning point of the war occurs at the Battle of Gettysburg, Lincoln makes a memorable speech as he dedicates the Union cemetery at Gettysburg, and draft riots break out in New York.

A biographical comparison of Ulysses S Grant and Robert E Lee chronicles the extraordinary battles that pitted the two generals against each other, from the wilderness to Petersburg in Virginia.

General George McClellan opposes Abraham Lincoln in the 1864 presidential race, sentiment in Union states starts to turn against the war, and Robert E Lee's Arlington estate is transformed into a national cemetery.

Sherman's troops march through Georgia and the Carolinas; Petersburg and Richmond fall to Grant's army; Lee surrenders at Appomattox, Va.

The final episode of Ken Burns' documentary series chronicles the war's conclusion, Lincoln's assassination and the impact of the Civil War.