Death and the Civil War

With the coming of the Civil War, and the staggering casualties it ushered in, death entered the experience of the American people as it never had before -- permanently altering the character of the republic and the psyche of the American people. Contending with death on an unprecedented scale posed challenges for which there were no ready answers when the war began. Americans worked to improvise new solutions, new institutions, and new ways of coping with death on an unimaginable scale.

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American Experience Honored with 12th Eric Barnouw Award

February 13, 2013

American Experience has been honored with the 2013 Eric Barnouw Award for its recent film, Death and the Civil War. This is the 12th time an American Experience production has received this honor.

From acclaimed filmmaker Ric Burns, Death and the Civil War examines the many ways the staggering death tolls of the Civil War permanently altered the character of the republic, and the psyche of the American people. The work of contending with death on an unprecedented scale propelled extraordinary changes in the inner and outer life of Americans – posing challenges for which there were no ready answers when the war began – challenges that called forth remarkable and eventually heroic efforts as Americans worked to improvise new solutions, new institutions, new ways of coping with death on an unimaginable scale. Based on Drew Gilpin Faust’s groundbreaking book, This Republic of Suffering, the film was broadcast in conjunction with the 150^th anniversary of Antietam, the bloodiest day in American history.