 To know our history, not to erase our history, to remember the sacred cause of American democracy, and not make up a lost cause to justify evil of slavery. The recognition comes as the legacy of the Civil War, which killed more than 600,000 Union and Confederate service members between 1861 and 1865, continues to shape U.S. politics in a contentious election year, in which issues of race, constitutional rights, and presidential power are at the forefront.