Life Under Slavery
Fewer than 4 in 100 enslaved people lived to 60. Yet they resisted and kept their families together.
From
Life Under Slavery
Clip: Episode 1 | 4m 30sVideo has Closed Captions
Fewer than 4 in 100 enslaved people lived to 60. Yet they resisted and kept their families together.
"For the slave it is all night, all night forever," a freed Black man wrote. Life under slavery meant disease-ridden cabins, 14-hour workdays, and the auction block, where families could be torn apart at any time. Yet enslaved people resisted, held their families together, and built a culture of their own. From Ken Burns's The Civil War.
From
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Production made possible by grants from General Motors Corporation, National Endowment for the Humanities, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation
Life Under Slavery
Clip: Episode 1 | 4m 30sVideo has Closed Captions
"For the slave it is all night, all night forever," a freed Black man wrote. Life under slavery meant disease-ridden cabins, 14-hour workdays, and the auction block, where families could be torn apart at any time. Yet enslaved people resisted, held their families together, and built a culture of their own. From Ken Burns's The Civil War.
From
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Where to Watch The Civil War
The Civil War is available to stream on pbs.org and the PBS app.
Buy Now
The Civil War | Timeline
Explore a multimedia timeline that is a companion to Ken Burns's acclaimed documentary series, The Civil War. The timeline provides a comprehensive overview of the war, from its political origins to its social and military consequences.Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: Ep1 | 13m 1s | Accounts from Grant, Lee, Sherman, and others are presented. (13m 1s)
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: Ep1 | 3m 16s | "A house divided against itself cannot stand." In the 1850s, slavery pushed the nation toward war. (3m 16s)
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: Ep1 | 3m 27s | After Bull Run, George McClellan built a magnificent Union army. Then he did nothing with it. (3m 27s)
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: Ep1 | 3m 20s | The feeling among the Southern members for dissolution of the Union becomes more general. (3m 20s)
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: Ep1 | 3m 25s | "Sarah, my love for you is deathless." Hear the letter Sullivan Ballou wrote a week before Bull Run. (3m 25s)
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: Ep1 | 3m 9s | Blue and gray veterans reunite at Gettysburg in 1938. Historians explain why the Civil War matters. (3m 9s)
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: Ep1 | 3m 35s | The Civil War was fought in 10,000 places. (3m 35s)
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: Ep1 | 2m 35s | At Fort Sumter, a Confederate general fired on his old West Point teacher. The Civil War began. (2m 35s)
Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship
Support for PBS provided by:
Production made possible by grants from General Motors Corporation, National Endowment for the Humanities, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation