— Ch. 1 · Origins And Adaptation —
North and South (miniseries).
~5 min read · Ch. 1 of 5
The American Broadcasting Company network aired the first installment of North and South on the 3rd of November 1985. This three-part miniseries adaptation drew directly from John Jakes' trilogy of novels published in the early 1980s. The initial broadcast became the seventh-highest rated miniseries in television history. A second part followed on the 4th of May 1986, achieving similar success with audiences. The final chapter arrived much later on the 27th of February 1994 under the title Heaven and Hell: North and South Book III. Critics and viewers received this third installment poorly compared to its predecessors. The story centers on Orry Main of South Carolina and George Hazard of Pennsylvania. These two men become best friends while attending the United States Military Academy at West Point. Their friendship eventually places them on opposite sides of the Civil War. The Mains are rural planters who own slaves near Charleston. The Hazards run an iron manufacturing business in a small Pennsylvania mill town. Their economic differences mirror the growing national divide that led to war.
West Point And War
Young Southerner Orry Main boarded a train toward West Point in the summer of 1842. He met Northerner George Hazard on his way to the same academy. They quickly formed a close bond as cadets. At the Academy they encountered classmates like George Pickett and Thomas Stonewall Jackson. An amoral egomaniac named Elkanah Bent harassed both men from their position as drillmaster. After two years of training the men returned home for a summer leave. George's sister Virgilia immediately disliked Orry when she learned his family kept slaves. During the Mexican War, Bent ordered George and Orry to lead a suicidal charge against Mexican forces at the Battle of Churubusco. Both survived but Orry was shot in his left leg and permanently crippled. George later quit the army after beating Bent following a threat to kill him if he harmed Orry again. Traumatized by his injuries, Orry temporarily became a recluse. When Madeline helped Priam escape one slave got whipped for helping him. The men graduated from West Point two years later before leaving to fight in the Mexican War.