The Civil War

A nine-part series that explores the most important conflict in our nation's history.

Episodes

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    1865: "War Is All Hell"/"The Better Angels of Our Nature"

    S1 Ep5 |
    Richmond falls to Grant's army, Lee surrenders, Lincoln is assassinated, and the war ends.

Specials

  • Making The Civil War: 25 Years Later: asset-mezzanine-16x9
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    Making The Civil War: 25 Years Later

    Ken Burns, Ric Burns, Buddy Squires, and Allen Moore discuss the making of The Civil War.

About The Civil War

Between 1861 and 1865, Americans made war on each other and killed each other in great numbers if only to become the kind of country that could no longer conceive of how that was possible. What began as a bitter dispute over Union and States' Rights, ended as a struggle over the meaning of freedom in America.

Extras