In the second episode, Abraham Lincoln faces the greatest crisis of his presidency as the Civil War engulfs the nation. With little military experience, he must learn rapidly how to act as commander in chief, challenge hesitant generals and make decisions that will determine the survival of the Union. As battlefield losses mount and the conflict grows more brutal, Lincoln comes to believe that defeating the Confederacy will require more than preserving the nation: slavery itself must be confronted. The episode follows Lincoln as he struggles with military setbacks, political pressure and the enormous human cost of war, while moving toward the Emancipation Proclamation as both a moral and strategic turning point. His relationships with commanders, advisers and abolitionist voices reveal a president evolving under extraordinary pressure, forced to balance principle with pragmatism as he transforms the meaning of the war and the future of the United States.
In the final episode of the series, the Civil War reaches its bloodiest and most decisive stage. After the Union victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, Abraham Lincoln becomes increasingly frustrated by generals who fail to destroy Robert E. Lee’s army and finally turns to Ulysses S. Grant, a commander willing to fight relentlessly until the Confederacy is defeated. At the same time, Lincoln pushes the nation beyond simply preserving the Union, supporting Black soldiers, confronting Frederick Douglass over their unequal treatment and making emancipation central to the meaning of the war. As casualties continue to mount, Lincoln faces the election of 1864, the fight to abolish slavery permanently through the 13th Amendment and the final collapse of the Confederacy. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox finally brings the long struggle toward its end, leaving Lincoln to consider how a divided nation can be reunited and what freedom will mean for millions of formerly enslaved people. But just as victory opens the possibility of a new beginning, his assassination transforms triumph into national tragedy and seals his place in American history.
The rainforest is home to more species of plants and animals than any other habitat on the planet. But for humans, life there is not as easy as it looks. Life in the trees requires great skill, ingenuity and sheer bravery. The Matis of Brazil carve 4-metre-long blow-pipes to hunt monkeys - in near total silence. Deep in the Congo forests, Tete defies death by scaling a giant tree using nothing more than a liana vine, and he must then negotiate an angry swarm of bees - all to collect honey for his family. Three children from Venezuela's Piaroa tribe venture deep into the jungle to hunt tarantulas - to toast for lunch! In West Papua the Korowai tribe show-off their engineering skills by building a high-rise home 35 metres up in the tree tops. Most memorable of all, in Brazil we join a unique monitoring flight in search an un-contacted tribe...
The episode follows Lincoln as he struggles with military setbacks, political pressure and the enormous human cost of war, while moving toward the Emancipation Proclamation as both a moral and strategic turning point. His relationships with commanders, advisers and abolitionist voices reveal a president evolving under extraordinary pressure, forced to balance principle with pragmatism as he transforms the meaning of the war and the future of the United States.