The Best Period Dramas to Stream For Independence Day
Though we tend to associate period dramas almost exclusively with British or European stories, these American-focused series are more than worth your time.
Rightly or wrongly, when we think about period dramas, our minds tend to go to the same place: England. Whether we’re talking Tudor-era tales of King Henry VIII’s wives and daughters, Regency-set romances, or Victorian social and class dynamics, the period piece essentially made its bones telling stories about the British Isles. (Okay, fine, occasionally a French or other European-set story — Vikings, usually — gets thrown in for good measure.)
But it’s a truth universally acknowledged that we don’t have enough American period dramas. Sure, the Civil War-set Gone with the Wind is still one of the most financially successful films of all time, and TV series like Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire use their historical settings to wrestle with all too contemporary themes and questions. But there aren’t nearly as many options as some of us (read: me) might hope. Still, all is not lost.
As America celebrates its 250th birthday, we thought it was past time to round up some of the best period offerings about various stories from our country’s past. Some feature famous figures, others well-known settings or specific moments that helped shape the country we’ve become. But all are worth your time this holiday weekend.
Death By Lightning
Four-part series Death by Lightning tells the story of the assassination of James Garfield, the 20th U.S. president, who is, rather unfortunately, more remembered for the manner of his death than for anything related to his life or politics. A Civil War general and former member of Congress, he was shot at a Washington, D.C. railroad station less than four months into his term, on July 2, 1881. Though his wounds were not initially fatal, he suffered from sepsis and infection due to a bullet that remained lodged in his abdomen, and he died two months later in New Jersey on September 19, 1881.
In addition to depicting a historical story that most Americans probably know little about, Death By Lightning’s subject matter is still remarkably (and unfortunately) timely, given the rise of political violence and cult-like loyalty to “sides” in our current cultural moment. The series also features a pair of outstanding lead performances, with Michael Shannon (Nuremburg) as Garfield and Matthew Macfadyen (Succession) as Charles J. Guiteau, the unstable assassin who became obsessed with his candidacy — and then decided he had to die.
A star-studded supporting cast includes Betty Gilpin (Widow’s Bay), Nick Offerman (The Last of Us), Bradley Whitford (The Diplomat), Tuppence Middleton (The Forsytes), Ben Miles (The Capture), and Laura Marcus (The Jetty).
Death By Lightning is available on Netflix.
The Gilded Age
The closest thing American television has to Downton Abbey is probably The Gilded Age, which (surprise!) is also a lavish period drama created by Julian Fellowes that was initially developed as a Downton prequel. (We’re not mad about it, but we are pretty glad it eventually morphed into its own thing.)
The series, which chronicles the clash between old-money Manhattan elites and up-and-coming nouveau riche strivers in late 19th-century New York, is the very definition of a prestige guilty pleasure, featuring everything from social scandals and petty rivalries to larger questions of industry and class. Its buzzy cast includes Carrie Coon (The White Lotus), Christine Baranski (Nine Perfect Strangers), Cynthia Nixon (And Just Like That), Morgan Spector (Black Rabbit), Louisa Jacobson (Materialists), Denée Benton (unReal), Taissa Farmiga (American Horror Story), Harry Richardson (Poldark) and Blake Ritson (The Count of Monte Cristo) among its primary members; it’s also a steady source of regular employment for what feels like half the Broadway performers in New York.
An opulent soap opera that has evolved into one of the best shows on TV over its three seasons, The Gilded Age is not just peak escapist fun; it’s a period drama with something to say about the America that once was.
The Gilded Age Seasons 1-3 are available on HBO Max. Season 4 is slated to arrive in the second half of 2026.
Manhunt
Everyone knows who killed President Abraham Lincoln. Fewer people are familiar with what happened after the dramatic events of that night in April 1865 or the scale of the search launched to track down and capture the infamous John Wilkes Booth. Apple TV’s Manhunt aims to fix that.
One part crime drama, one part legal procedural, and one part political history lesson, with a hefty dash of grief on top, the seven-part series is the story of a killer who tried to bring down a nation and the man charged with hunting down his best friend’s murderer. Tobias Menzies (The Crown) stars as Edward Stanton, Lincoln’s Secretary of War and close friend, who vows to track down the fugitive Booth (Anthony Boyle), who led the authorities and the U.S. Army on a chase through Maryland and Virginia that lasted for the better part of two weeks.
Set against a backdrop of fear and uncertainty— many in Washington believed the shooting heralded an invasion from reconstituted Confederate forces — the show deftly balances historical tension with genuine emotional depth, using flashbacks to illustrate Stanton and Lincoln’s (Hamish Linklater) friendship and their plans for reunifying the country.
Manhunt is available on Apple TV.
John Adams
The award-winning prestige drama John Adams is a throwback to the HBO miniseries of old, which largely seemed to exist to rack up hardware come awards time. This series is no different, taking home four Golden Globes and thirteen Emmy Awards for its sprawling depiction of the life of the influential Founding Father and second U.S. president.
Based on the eponymous biography by David McCullough, the seven-part series is an immersive recreation of 18th-century America at the most pivotal turning point in its history, and a detailed look at the life of a man who has largely been overshadowed by some of his more famous historical peers, such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.
Paul Giamatti, who played Cora’s brother on Downton Abbey, stars as the titular Adams, alongside Laura Linney (Ozark), his wife Abigail, and a supporting cast that includes many faces who will be familiar to Anglophiles, such as Stephen Dillane (Sherwood), Rufus Sewell (Scoop), Tom Hollander (The Iris Affair), Andrew Scott (Sherlock), Tom Wilkinson (Belgravia), and Samuel Barnett (Murder in Provence).
John Adams is available on HBO Max.
The Underground Railroad
The 2021 limited series The Underground Railroad is unlike any Civil War drama you’ve seen before. Created and directed by Academy Award winner Barry Jenkins (Moonlight), the series blends factual elements from a key piece of American antebellum history — the covert network of secret routes and safe houses that helped enslaved people in the American South escape to freedom in the Northern U.S., Canada, and Mexico — with elements of magical realism to create something entirely brand new.
Based on Colton Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, The Underground Railroad turns the metaphorical literal, reimagining the symbolic historical route as a physical system of tracks, tunnels, trains, and station agents built secretly beneath the southern soil.
South African actor Thuso Mbedu stars as Cora Randall alongside U.K. actors Sheila Atim, Aaron Pierre, Chukwudi Iwuji, and Peter Mullan. The ten-part series took home Golden Globes, BAFTAs, and a Peabody Award.
The Underground Railroad is available on Prime Video.
Jamestown
One of the first series brought to U.S. viewers via PBS Passport, Jamestown is the rare series that explores the very beginnings of our country. Set in 17th-century Virginia, the series picks up a little over a decade after the founding of the colony that gives the show its name.
Jamestown’s early years were helmed by male-only colonists and faced some dark times, from starvation and cannibalism to skirmishes with the local Native American populations. Now that things have stabilized somewhat, the colonists need wives, which leads to the rise of a sort of mail-order service to ferry willing women from England to Virginia – for a price. The series follows three very different women as they leave their respective troubled pasts in England behind to seek new lives in America. Drama, predictably, ensues.
Naomi Battrick (A Very English Scandal), Sophie Rundle (Peaky Blinders), and Niamh Walsh (Dead and Buried) play the series’ central women, joined by a cast that includes Stuart Martin (Miss Scarlet), Max Beesley (Hijack), Patsy Ferran (Miss Austen), Matt Stokoe (After the Flood), and Jason Flemyng (Prime Target).
All seasons of Jamestown are available on PBS Passport,
Franklin
For all that this is a story about one of America’s most recognizable Founding Fathers, the bulk of Apple TV’s Franklin actually takes place in France. Based on historian Stacy Schiff’s 2005 book A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France and the Birth of America, the eight-part series chronicles 70-year-old Benjamin Franklin’s unofficial mission to secure funding and military support from King Louis XVI during the Revolutionary War, when America’s victory against the British was far from certain.
Michael Douglas (The War of the Roses) stars as Franklin, alongside a supporting cast that includes Noah Jupe (The Night Manager), Daniel Mays (Lynley), Ludivine Sagnier (The Serpent Queen), Tom Hughes (Victoria), and Eddie Marsan (King & Conqueror).
Franklin is available on Apple TV.
Turn: Washington’s Spies
Based on Alexander Rose’s book Washington’s Spies: The Story of America’s First Spy Ring, the series Turn dramatized the story of the infamous Culper Ring. A secret network of spies and informants organized by General George Washington and Major Benjamin Tallmadge, it regularly provided information to Revolutionary forces about British Army operations between late October 1778 and the British evacuation of New York in 1783.
The series stars Jamie Bell (Half Man) as Abraham Woodhull, a Long Island farmer recruited by a group of childhood friends to form the titular spy ring. Other notable members of the series’ cast include Seth Numrich (Under the Banner of Heaven), Burn Gorman (Torchwood), Ian Khan (Elementary), Daniel Henshall (Mystery Road: Origin), Heather Lind (Your Friends & Neighbors), and Meegan Warner (Once Upon a Time).
Turn: Washington’s Spies is available on AMC+, The Roku Channel, and PBS Passport.
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