Ken Burns The Civil War Screening: 1861

The Civil War is an epic nine-episode series by the award-winning documentary filmmaker Ken Burns. Heralded as an unforgettable introduction to a four-year conflict fought in 10,000 places, the film vividly embraces the entire sweep of the war: the complex causes and lasting effects of America’s greatest and most moving calamity, the battles and the homefronts, the generals and the private soldiers, the anguish of death in battle and the grief of families at home.

The Falmouth Public Library will be screening this entire Civil War series over the course of a week. Join us on Monday, April 14, at 1 PM in the Hermann room as we screen the first episode, 1861 The Cause.

Episode 1: The Cause: “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.”

This documentary screening is free to the public and is supported by the Friends of the Falmouth Public Library. Register to attend using the library’s online event calendar or visit/call the adult service desk at 508-457-2555 x7.