Monuments are often described as neutral markers of history, but they never have been. From the earliest days of the Civil War, monuments were raised not just to remember the dead, but to shape public memory, signal power, and define who belonged in the story of America. In this segment, we trace the political origins of Civil War monuments, beginning with the first Confederate memorial erected in 1861 and the deliberate choices that followed. We examine how monuments on courthouse lawns and public squares reflected ideology, not just remembrance, and how those choices echoed for generations. Understanding this history matters. Not to erase the past, but to see it clearly. Because when we recognize that monuments were political from the beginning, we can finally ask the right question: whose history was being honored, and whose was left unmarked?
