re: Can Someone Explain Something To Me?

Most of the statues were erected on the 25, 50, 75, or 100 year anniversaries of civil war battles to honor the dead. They were usually erected by Daughters of the Confederacy or other groups made up of the children of Civil War veterans. While Lee and Jefferson Davis were frequently depicted, most memorials honored an officer who was either from that community or directly commanded the men drafted to fight from that community.

In addition, many such monuments, despite depicting those officers in full civil war regalia, were erected to commemorate their works after the war as much as those during. For example, General Beauregard in New Orleans was infamous for firing the first shots of the war while commanding an artillery regiment at Ft. Sumpter. But, his statue in New Orleans was built facing City Park because he donated the land to build the park and was instrumental in getting it designed and built. He also was a huge advocate for education, starting schools for freed slaves to teach literacy.

So, often, the reasons for those monuments are varied, but usually are rooted in honoring local noteworthy citizens or scores of local dead ancestors.

Tbh, that one never made sense to me either. It would have made more sense to have a statue of Judah P Benjamin.

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While Lee and Jefferson Davis were frequently depicted, most memorials honored an officer who was either from that community or directly commanded the men drafted to fight from that community.

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The poster specifically calls out Lee and Davis as exceptions, yet your response was:

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So why did NOLA have a statue to Robert E Lee a man who

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This is the level of brainpower we are dealing with from "Southerners against the South."

Market Capture

You have a fixated and naive view of history. These symbols/statues are said to harken to an evil time and people that must be repudiated! No questioning, no thinking, no understanding of the world. Just stark narrow vision quest to reach the apex of moral gotcha....such a foolish little screeching chihuahua soul!

What were the import export relations of the United States and the British? What was the primary export of the British, was it a raw or finished good? Who had been their primary trading partner for that good (hint India), had that relation changed?
Had the export matrix of the northern previous colonies changed? (Whaling?) Had a new technology enabled a new industry?
Were the British and Northern states in competition for raw materials? If one could corner the raw materials for a new and growing technological revolution, would you dominate the market? The industry? The global industry?
You have a pollyanna view that strokes your ego and it's vapid, running around yanking your wang wearing a superhero cape unaware you're about to fall off the roof.

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It was (and had been) non-controversial for almost 100 years.

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And it would be non-controversial today except some people are tired of trying to get people to believe their "Southern strategy" fairy tale while their party keeps enacting laws that inherently destroy low income AA families in this country. If they take down the statures and don't teach actual history, they can just continue pointing fingers away from themselves - when it is clear that they just have not changed. History is history. Don't frick with it. Good things happened and bad things happened. Look back to the good for a comparison to see if we are missing the mark. Look to the bad and make sure that we avoid it in the future.