Customer Reviews

The Civil War: Episode One - The Cause - 1861 [VHS]

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I was first introduced to this documentary in a US History class. All too often history is portrayed in such a way as to be completely alien or so far out of touch with "today" that a search for relevancy proves futile. Not so with this documentary! The combination of David McCullough's voice, the background music native to the time, hundreds and hundreds of actual pictures taken on scene, and compelling stories that ranged from the strategic "macro" level of the war to the level of the individual soldier and their family absolutely captivated me! A MUST HAVE for all interested in the history of the Civil War.

The first episode talks about the cause of the war and how the the conflict became inevitable. The Sullivan Ballou letter the ends the episode is very moving and you may want to have some kleenex handy. Throughout the series, the musical score really draws you into the period and to the drama of this terrible conflict. This series is reminiscent of old-time radio shows and how they used sound effects. The narration and the voices representing different key players in the war is flawless. Very professionally done by Burns and crew to tell a powerful story using a full arsenal of facts and effects.

This first video in Ken Burns' "Civil War" documentary focuses on the events that led up to the beginning of this terrible period in American History, such as Abraham Lincoln becoming President and the Deep South beginning to worry that their livelihood (slaves to pick their cotton ) would be taken away.

To me, the most interesting facet of this episode was how the issue of slavery had been a thorn in the side of the United States since the nation's very conception. It goes all the way back to the Constitutional Congress of the late 1700s, when the architects of the U.S. Constitution felt slavery to be such a hot issue that they removed it from discussion, so as to get the requisite endorsements of the document from the Southern states.

From that time, all the way up to the 1860s, slavery had been a simmering issue just waiting to boil over, which is exactly what happened in 1861.

This introduction to Ken Burn's epic Civil War series tells the poignant personnel stories we so often miss. This is a must see for all Americans.