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Life Under Slavery

"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.
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Clip Season 1 Episode 1 Length 04:30 Premiere: 04/03/11

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Specials

Season 1 Episodes

1865: "War Is All Hell"/"The Better Angels of Our Nature"
S1 E5 Length 2:14:38 Premiere Date 09/11/15

1864: "Valley of the Shadow of Death"/"Most Hallowed Ground"
S1 E4 Length 2:18:35 Premiere Date 09/10/15

1863: "Simply Murder"/"The Universe of Battle"
S1 E3 Length 2:34:49 Premiere Date 09/09/15

1862: "A Very Bloody Affair"/"Forever Free"
S1 E2 Length 2:21:25 Premiere Date 09/08/15

1861: "The Cause"
S1 E1 Length 1:40:58 Premiere Date 09/07/15

The Sullivan Ballou Letter
Clip Length 03:25 Premiere Date 09/06/15

A House Divided
Clip Length 03:16 Premiere Date 09/06/15

Lincoln's Election and Secession
Clip Length 03:20 Premiere Date 09/06/15

McClellan Takes Command
Clip Length 03:27 Premiere Date 09/06/15

The Call to Arms, 1861
Clip Length 13:01 Premiere Date 09/06/15

Official Trailer
Preview Length 00:30 Premiere Date 09/06/15

Episode 1: The Cause | Introduction
Clip Length 03:35 Premiere Date 04/03/11

Fort Sumter
Clip Length 02:35 Premiere Date 04/03/11

The 1938 Gettysburg Reunion
Clip Length 03:09 Premiere Date 04/03/11

Life Under Slavery
Clip Length 04:30 Premiere Date 04/03/11

Ken Burns Interview | The Civil War
Preview Length 02:50 Premiere Date 04/03/11

Ken Burns Interview | Shelby Foote
Preview Length 03:36 Premiere Date 04/03/11

Ken Burns Interview | Music
Preview Length 02:26 Premiere Date 04/03/11

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