What caused the American Civil War? This episode traces the evolution of two distinct societies, leading up to that fateful first shot on Fort Sumter. Along the way, the program traces the rise of the Republican Party, the emergence of Abraham Lincoln, industrialization in the North, the impact of the cotton gin on the economy of the South, and the origins and spread of slavery in North America.
Brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor. Men are recruited, troops march, battles are fought, the luckless die. But a clear-cut victory continues to elude both sides. The Battle of Antietam takes place on September 17, 1862. It is the bloodiest day of the entire war.
During 1862, Lincoln's military commanders were squabbling, his political popularity was waning, and the North seemed unable to exploit its industrial and numerical superiority. Then came 1863, when the South failed at Gettysburg and surrendered Vicksburg, a strategic Mississippi port. These two momentous events marked the turning point in the war.
The war took its toll not only on the battlefields but also on the day-to-day lives of Northern and Southern civilians. Through songs, diaries, poems, paintings, memoirs, and letters of soldiers and those they left at home, you will enter that war-torn world. You will also witness the changing technology of warfare, the appointment of Ulysses S. Grant as Union commander, and the tragic experiences of African-Americans--some freed, some enslaved.
Five days after General Lee surrenders, Lincoln is assassinated, and the struggle for reunification is far from over. This program ponders the South's legacy of defeat and the war's continuing impact on our lives, manifested in the struggle for civil rights--a poignant culmination to this thought-provoking series.