Creator and showrunner Tony Tost described Damnation as '1/3 Clint Eastwood, 1/3 John Steinbeck, 1/3 James Ellroy,' combining tough western characters with the world of The Grapes of Wrath and a pulpy, paranoid Ellroy-style narrative.

The series is based on the Farmers' Holiday Association's campaign for a farm strike in the early 1930s, with its Iowa setting inspired by real events in Plymouth County and Le Mars, Iowa, starting in May 1932, including the era's common farmer tactic of the 'penny auction.'

The coal miners' strike storyline draws on the real Harlan County War (also known as Bloody Harlan) in Kentucky, and the show features historical figures Sheriff J. H. Blair and Florence Reece, whose real-life folk song 'Which Side Are You On?' is performed in the second episode.

The Pinkerton Detective Agency and the William J. Burns International Detective Agency depicted in the show, which employ characters Creeley Turner and Connie Nunn, were real agencies known for strikebreaking in the 1930s.

The show's villainous Black Legion vigilante group is based on an actual 1930s militant fascist paramilitary organization that terrorized ethnic, political, and religious minorities across the Midwest, particularly targeting labor organizers and striking workers.

Aden Young was originally cast in the lead role of Seth Davenport but dropped out due to creative differences and was later replaced by Killian Scott.

Despite mixed-to-positive critical reviews and a 64% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes, the show earned a much higher 91% approval rating from audiences, based on 272 user reviews.

Damnation was cancelled after just one season on January 25, 2018, less than three months after its November 7, 2017 premiere, and was later removed entirely from Netflix in 2023.