Watch The Civil War Season 1 Episode 1 Online

Season 1 Episode 1 — Aired on Sep 23, 1990 • runs about 100 minutes.

Directed by Ken Burns.

Written by Geoffrey C. Ward, Ken Burns.

Notable cast/guest names in this episode include David McCullough, Sam Waterston, Julie Harris, Jason Robards.

This page includes 1 official still(s) (when available) plus legal availability links.

Looking for “watch The Civil War Season 1 Episode 1 online”? This is a legal-only guide with synopsis, stills, and navigation for this season.

Synopsis

Beginning with a searing indictment of slavery, this first episode dramatically evokes the causes of the war, from the Cotton Kingdom of the South to the northern abolitionists who opposed it. Here are the burning questions of Union and States' rights, John Brown at Harper's Ferry, the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, the firing on Fort Sumter and the jubilant rush to arms on both sides. Along the way the series' major figures are introduced: Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant and a host of lesser-known but equally vivid characters. The episode comes to a climax with the disastrous Union defeat at Manassas, Virginia, where both sides now learn it is to be a very long war.

Stills