Rex Dyer

Hist-4303
Professor Bittel
12/10/2022

To Remember, Not to Rally: A Proposal for Confederate Monument Relocation

A giant statue of a horseback military officer stands high above a surrounding crowd in

the city that once held his nation’s capital; this crowd does not gather to celebrate the man

himself, but instead, they celebrate the removal of his monument as a step towards justice; a

decision that has enshrined these monuments as a battleground for long-standing political

issues and conflicts within the nation as people debate over whether these confederate

monuments should be allowed to stay where they are as a historical record or removed as a

testament to modern injustice; something the proposed project will attempt to solve. This

debate over the location and existence of these statues is heavily enflamed by current events

and social activists movements; however, its true origin comes from far before, following the

end of the Civil War, as citizens of the United States debated the justification of the war and the

reason for its beginning, a debate that would be intertwined with civil right struggles and the

adoption of a new view of history known as the “Lost Cause.” To best handle this current issue

that so heavily relies on an accurate explanation of history, modern historians need to be able

to showcase a precise account of the reasoning behind the Civil War and the history of the

“Lost Cause” and the monuments they spawned as part of the evolution of justice and politics

within the United States of America. This proposed project will work to ensure a safe and

secure environment where people may view these monuments as a part of history with
accompanying evidence to refute the claims of the “Lost Cause” downplaying the role of slavery

within the Civil War. The political elements of the creation of these monuments were made

years after the fact, all while ensuring it does not inflame the political environment by leaving

monuments or outright destroying them to create areas of conflict between political groups.

This project to be known as the Civil War Artifact Collection or CWAC, will be a multi-

location initiative across the United States in conjunction with museums, Universities, and other

state institutions to relocate monuments from their original public areas to more private areas

where they can be studied and presented alongside accurate information relating to the

creation of the memorial concerning the Civil War; to ensure cost efficiency and ease of

transports, these statues will be primarily held within the city or state where they originate in

whichever institution is willing to take part in the project. This state-by-state project will

relocate the statues to facilities in partnership with the project except for such monuments that

are too large or difficult to move, such as the Stone Mountain Confederate monument, which

measurements put the carving 400 feet above the ground and measured at 90 by 190 feet with

an indent in the mountain of 42 feet1; such a large monument would require on-site park staff

or park facilities with information on the creation of the monument and its background or if

given no other option, removal. In all other cases where the monuments are capable of being

transported to another location, these monuments will be sent to prearranged locations with

priority for storage set for facilities located within the city of origin for the statue to ensure that

transportation of the statue is not overly strenuous and costly while simultaneously not

creating a situation that might cause headlines and in turn spark protest and counter-protest
1
“Memorial Carving.” Stone Mountain Park. Accessed December 10, 2022.
https://www.stonemountainpark.com/activities/history-nature/Confederate-Memorial-Carving.
within the local area. While the primary goal is to relocate these statues within already existing

facilities within institutions or museums, due to the existence of approximately 723 2 other

monuments across the United States, there will need to be some additional storage space

constructed to hold the artifacts until seasonal exhibitions open; a similar caveat is available for

public statues that are located in locations deemed too remote to be utilized as a point of

political violence or rallying or being too challenging to relocate effectively, in which case

informative placards will be showcased. These statues will be in local museums and

universities; in the case of Richmond, Virginia, two possibilities will be the University of

Richmond and the American Civil War Museum in Richmond. This organization is to ensure that

the statues themselves are centralized in an urban area where they can be accessed

academically while ensuring that the process of relocation is made manageable and easy to

justify the project.

With the issue of statue relocation dealt with, there now comes the more intricate

problem of organizing the information and exhibits along with their content to best showcase

why these statues were established and the history behind them in a coherent manner that

goes through the start of the civil war and the development of the “Lost Cause” and its effect

on Southern politics and the creation of monuments. The organization and flow of the visitors

towards the exhibit have been designed to optimally showcase information while

simultaneously allowing for a complete informational exhibition that can be visited year-round

2
Rhoden, Giselle, and Dalila Paul. “73 Confederate Monuments Were Removed or
Renamed Last Year, Report Finds.” CNN. Cable News Network, February 3, 2022.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/02/us/confederate-monuments-removed-2021-whose-
heritage/index.html.
with a second storage section containing the monuments themselves; all of this to create a

stable environment that can account and prepare for more significant visitor traffic in the case

of large crowds or unstable situations. The primary exhibit will move in one direction from the

entrance toward the exit directing people from one room towards the other up until they reach

a crossroads, which will lead to either the exit or statues room where visitors can look at the

selection of statues with in-depth plaques on their history, alongside articles about their

construction and contemporary removal. While the statues themselves may be seasonal, the

informational part of the exhibition will be open to the standards of the facilities owners

following other museum or institutional operating hours to always have the information

available to the public. The first part of the exhibition will be a welcoming room that contains

audio tours, pictures of the statues, artwork, and images of protests and statue removals, in

addition to an information desk and pamphlets containing information, with an introductory

message on the front wall that states the importance is remembering our past while also using

our understanding of those events to seek reconciliation and avoid violence. Following this,

visitors will go into a room that showcases the cause of the Civil war through documents from

both the union and the confederacy, citing slavery as the primary cause, with other events such

as Bleeding Kansas and the combat that took place between settlers. Following this room will

be the “Lost Cause” exhibit, showcasing the beginning of this movement and some of its beliefs.

Then visitors will enter the Civil War room, showcasing claims of the lost cause alongside

historical evidence and documents refuting those claims. The following exhibit will contain the

glorification of the south through statues, education, and media with the heavy influence of

groups like the ‘Daughters of the Confederacy in the face of social change; this will contain
information on films, books, and histories of the Civil War that glorify the south as an ideal

agrarian utopia. After providing an understanding of the roots of the “Lost Cause,” its beliefs,

and refutations, it will then transition to the establishment of statues as a political mechanism

to glorify the Antebellum South in the face of social change and civil rights movements;

followed shortly by a contemporary exhibit exploring the reasoning behind the removal of

these statues considering recent political campaigns before finally reaching the exit or statue

room depending on if its open. The organization of the flow of information will be essential to

creating a clear and concise narrative for visitors to understand why these statues exist and

why this debate for their removal is so crucial in the modern day.

The beginning of this exhibition will focus on one of the primary arguments of the “Lost

Cause” and defend the legacy of these statues against the truth that slavery was an intrinsic

cause of the American Civil war, “It was not a moral dispute. It was the mere incident of a

sectional animosity, the causes of which lay far beyond the domain of morals” 3 as stated in the

book by Edward A Pollard, The Lost Cause. This is one of the primary standards for the defense

of the confederacy during the American Civil War; this claim completely disregarded claims of

morality by groups across the United States, especially those in the north, as slavery not being

an actual moral issue in the politics of the day, but instead only acting as a method of attack by

3
Edward. “Chapter II.”. In The Lost Cause: A New Southern History of the War of the
Confederates. Comprising a Full and Authentic Account of the Rise and Progress of the
Late Southern Confederacy--the Campaigns, Battles, Incidents, and Adventures of the
Most Gigantic Struggle of the World's History. Drawn from Official Sources, and
Approved by the Most Distingunished Confederate Leaders, 47–49. New York, New York:
E.B. Treat, 1866.
the North against the south for ulterior motives of control. The following quote, one page after,

ironically focuses on defending slavery as the method of the South’s great wealth, “whatever

may have been the defamation of the institution of slavery, no man can write its history

without recognizing contributions and naming prominent results beyond the domain of

controversy”.4 The exhibit, however, will prove this claim false by showcasing Pollard’s

insistence on the situation vs. two notable documents by the Confederate government that

directly state that Slavery is the cause of their insurrection. The first source comes from the

Declaration of Causes of Seceding states, most notably within the claims made in the article by

Mississippi “Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery-- the greatest

material interest of the world. Its labor supplies the product which constitutes by far the largest

and most important portions of commerce of the earth.”5 This directly contradicts the idea that

slavery was not inherently involved in the Civil War via showcasing the declaration of

succession by one of the founding states of the Confederacy. This claim that Slavery was

intrinsic to the confederacy is compounded by the statements of the Vice-President of the

Confederacy in his “Cornerstone” speech to ensure there is no confusion on the Confederacy’s

view on slavery “Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its

foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to

4
Edward. The Lost Cause
5
“The Declaration of Causes of Seceding States-Mississippi.” American Battlefield Trust.
Accessed December 13, 2022.
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/primary-sources/declaration-causes-seceding-states?
ms=googlegrant#Mississippi?ms=googlegrant&ms=googlegrant.
the white man;” 6 showcasing the extreme connection between the south and slavery. While

these statements do come from government sources that may be handwaved away in the

analysis of this issue, there is also a significant overview of the ordinary soldiers and civilians of

the civil war in the work What This Cruel War was Over: Soldiers Slavery, and the Civil War ,

with the assistance of the in-depth discussion on the importance of slavery as a means of social

order and significance to Confederate society7, this point can be hammered down with further

analysis of Southern culture as a heavily stratified society that held this idea of racial superiority

at its core through the work of Bruce Levine in his book Half Slave and Half Free 8which gives a

complete examination towards the social importance to slavery within the confederacy, these

pieces of information can be placed alongside the primary documents surrounding the

American Civil War to explore the information in a greater context better to inform visitors. In

continuation with this, These Quotes and documents will be placed throughout the room

alongside information on the background of the quote, a picture, and extra commentary from

contemporary experts about the beliefs of United States citizens of the time in relating the war

to Slavery. After going through this subject, either by floor arrows or audio guide, the visitors

will be directed toward the next room about the growth of the “Lost Cause” myth and the

glorification of the Antebellum south.

6
“Cornerstone Speech.” American Battlefield Trust. Accessed December 13, 2022.
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/primary-sources/cornerstone-speech.
7
Manning, Chandra Miller. What This Cruel War Was over: Soldiers, Slavery, And the
Civil War. New York, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2007.
8
Levine, Bruce C. Half Slave and Half Free: The Roots of Civil War. New York, New
York: Hill and Wang, 2005.
 The next room shall focus on the establishment of the “Lost Cause” myth in America

following the war, starting with the popularization of the idea by Edward A Pollard in his book

that gave the theory its namesake and by following generations of Southerners who felt

humiliated and outraged by their defeat during the civil war and the conditions they faced

following it in Reconstruction. The introduction of Pollard’s book The Lost Cause best

establishes this theory as a rebellion against a dishonest narrative put forward by the North to

discredit the Confederacy, “The facts of the War of the Confederates in America have been at

the mercy of many temporary agents; they have been either confounded with sensational

rumours, or discoloured by violent prejudices”.9 This defense of the Confederacy, through

these, claims, garners little outrage alone. However, this can be better explored through the

following history as it goes through a timeline of political change and atrocities that were

committed justified using these ideas that, especially considering the implications stated

through an interview with General Judd Forest, a former confederate and founder of the

terrorist organization the Klu Klux Klan who claimed that during the war the confederacy looked

up to its leaders, while ironically claiming that slavery was the cause of the war and that the

South had no interest in reigniting it after it had been settled,10 such evidence of the impact of

the “Lost Cause” showcases a rise in violence and justification for horrific actions that will help

visitors see why this belief is harmful and how these statues perpetuated this deception. The

importance of adding individual declarations of the glorification of the South by sympathetic

sources can best showcase the thought process and justification of these movements, such as

9
The Lost Cause, Edward A, Pollard
10
"Interview with General Forrest. Who Are the True Representatives of the Southern People?-
Radical Misrepresentations." New York Herald (New York, New York) XXXIII, no. 252, September
8, 1868: 4. Readex: America's Historical Newspapers.
the speech given at the placement of a statue of General Stonewall Jackson as a glorification of

southern character11 to bring home how such events could lead to significant misinformation

and a discrediting of the meaning of the Civil War. What is going to be highly impactful in

understanding what story these statues tell is through analysis provided by Cynthia Mills and

Pamela H. Simpson in their book Monuments to The Lost Cause: Women Art and the

Landscapes of the Southern Memory, will offer immense insight into the construction and

artistic meaning of many of these statues12. This tremendous amount of evidence will be

organized in a timeline with images, figures, and quotes, from the end of the Civil War to the

Civil Rights era and ending towards the near modern day, which will be explored in the

following exhibit.

Before entering the statue room, this final exhibit will be dedicated to understanding

these statues in the modern day and their impact on current political events. This section shall

spotlight contemporary issues relating to race within the United States and tragedies that have

led to the loss of lives of those within African American communities. It will have dedications to

people who have lost their lives towards police brutality and other occasions of violence

following the end of the Civil rights Movement. Following this, it will explore the modern-day

impact the “Lost Cause” still has across the United States and especially the south through the

works of W. Stuart Towns in the book Enduring Legacy13. Finally, it will contain images and

"Stonewall Jackson And His Men. Unveiling of the Statue and Dedication of the
11

Tomb. Jefferson." Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana), May 11, 1881: 2. 

12
Mills, Cynthia J., and Pamela H. Simpson. Monuments to the Lost Cause: Women, Art, and the
Landscapes of Southern Memory. Knoxville, Tennessee : The University of Tennessee Press,
2019.
Towns, W. Stuart. 2012. Enduring Legacy : Rhetoric and Ritual of the Lost Cause. Tuscaloosa:
13

University of Alabama Press. Accessed December 14, 2022. ProQuest Ebook Central.
newscasts of the removal of many of these statues, such as the statue of Robert E. Lee in

Virginia; this will be held side by side with the occurrences of violence and protest between

groups over this controversial issue as to best showcase how these statues controversy can lead

to harm and hatred that can be used as a political tool that only inflames conflict. This will bring

an end to the information presented in a way that brings home the point of the importance of

this issue and its relation to the “Lost Cause” theory and its impact on the modern day;

following this will be the exit that leads to two hallways, one leading to the door that is always

open, and the second leading to the statues exhibit that is only open on a schedule decided

upon by the facilities owner.

The statues room will be the final room in the exhibition, a fitting finale to show visitors

these statues that were created to the glorification of an idea based on faulty history,

something that they can now study and understand now that they have been given an

extensive background on them, and finally appreciate the purpose of this project as to preserve

history while not allowing it to be utilized as a cause for violence that so many have worked so

long to stop. The statues will be put in an open setup where visitors can move from place to

place, looking at each one and seeing background information on its creation and whom it

depicts. The exit to this place will have a display in front of the door with a short message

consolidating the point that history is significant. While these statues may represent a dark time

in our nation’s history, not only that but the remembrance of dark times as possible may seem

to be more harmful than helpful; it is necessary to remember it as a consequence of when we

try to forget or obscure history and how deception like that must not be allowed to happen,

especially in light of current events. We must truly understand it in depth to utilize it accurately.
While it is important to remember the past and preserve it, we must also take responsibility for

how it can be used and ensure that things that might be used to rally around or incite violence

are held in a place where they can be compared with the evidence and not destroyed to the

detriment of future generations.

Bibliography

“Cornerstone Speech.” American Battlefield Trust. Accessed December 13, 2022.

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/primary-sources/cornerstone-speech.

Edward. “Chapter II.” Essay. In The Lost Cause: A New Southern History of the War of the
Confederates. Comprising a Full and Authentic Account of the Rise and Progress of the Late
Southern Confederacy--the Campaigns, Battles, Incidents, and Adventures of the Most Gigantic
Struggle of the World's History. Drawn from Official Sources, and Approved by the Most
Distingunished Confederate Leaders, 47–49. New York, New York: Treat, 1866.

“The Declaration of Causes of Seceding States-Mississippi.” American Battlefield Trust. Accessed

December 13, 2022. https://www.battlefields.org/learn/primary-sources/declaration-causes-
seceding-states?ms=googlegrant#Mississippi?ms=googlegrant&ms=googlegrant.

"Interview with General Forrest. Who Are the True Representatives of the Southern People?-
Radical Misrepresentations." New York Herald (New York, New York) XXXIII, no. 252, September
8, 1868: 4. Readex: America's Historical Newspapers. https://infoweb-newsbank-
com.electra.lmu.edu/apps/readex/doc?p=EANX&docref=image/
v2%3A11A050B7B120D3F8%40EANX-1311D503819E1000%402403584-
1311D503D4FAB658%403-1311D5147AC62868%40Interview%2Bwith%2BGeneral%2BForrest.
%2BWho%2BAre%2Bthe%2BTrue%2BRepresentatives%2Bof%2Bthe%2BSouthern%2BPeople
%253F-Radical%2BMisrepresentations.
Levine, Bruce C. Half Slave and Half Free: The Roots of Civil War. New York, New York: Hill and
Wang, 2005.

Manning, Chandra Miller. What This Cruel War Was over: Soldiers, Slavery, And the Civil War.
New York, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2007.

“Memorial Carving.” Stone Mountain Park. Accessed December 10, 2022.

https://www.stonemountainpark.com/activities/history-nature/Confederate-Memorial-
Carving.
Mills, Cynthia J., and Pamela H. Simpson. Monuments to the Lost Cause: Women, Art, and the
Landscapes of Southern Memory. Knoxville, Tennessee : The University of Tennessee Press,
2019.

Manning, Chandra Miller. What This Cruel War Was over: Soldiers, Slavery, And the Civil War.
New York, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2007.

"Stonewall Jackson And His Men. Unveiling of the Statue and Dedication of the Tomb.
Jefferson." Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana), May 11, 1881: 2. 

Towns, W. Stuart. 2012. Enduring Legacy : Rhetoric and Ritual of the Lost Cause. Tuscaloosa:
University of Alabama Press. Accessed December 14, 2022. ProQuest Ebook Central.

Rhoden, Giselle, and Dalila Paul. “73 Confederate Monuments Were Removed or Renamed
Last Year, Report Finds.” CNN. Cable News Network, February 3, 2022.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/02/us/confederate-monuments-removed-2021-whose-
heritage/index.html.