AMERICAN CIVIL WAR, LEGACY, AFTERMATH, Most Americans, at least those born here before 1960, know the history of our Civil War but, what is generally not known- is why; why really the soldiers on both sides fought and died. Over the four years of bloody conflict some 690,000 young men from both sides lost their lives. That's an average of 14,375 every month and 479 a day. What were they so angry about that they were ready to give their lives for the cause- what cause? The popular myth is that it was all about abolishing slavery, but, as we show, that had little to do with the war.