<P> Robert Seigler in his study of Confederate monuments in South Carolina found that out of the over one hundred and seventy that he documented, only five monuments were found dedicated to the African Americans who had been used by the Confederacy working "on fortifications, and had served as musicians, teamsters, cooks, servants, and in other capacities," four of those were to slaves and one to a musician, Henry Brown . </P> <P> Eric Foner, a historian of the Civil War and biographer of Lincoln, argued that more statues of African - Americans like Nat Turner should be constructed . Alfred Brophy, a professor of law at the University of Alabama, argued the removal of the Confederate statues "facilitates forgetting", although these statues were "re-inscribed images of white supremacy". Brophy also stated that the Lee statue in Charlottesville should be removed . </P> <P> The removals were marked by events in Louisiana and Virginia within the span of two years . In Louisiana, after the Charleston church shooting of 2015, the city of New Orleans removed its Confederate memorials two years later . A few months later, in August 2017, a state of emergency was declared in Virginia after a Unite the Right rally against the removal of the Robert Edward Lee statue in Charlottesville turned violent . </P> <P> Other events followed across the United States . In Baltimore, for example, the city's Confederate statues were removed on the night of August 15--16, 2017 . Mayor Catherine Pugh said that she ordered the overnight removals to preserve public safety . Similarly, in Lexington, Kentucky, Mayor Jim Gray asked the city council on August 16, 2017 to approve the relocation of two statues from a courthouse . A different event occurred in Durham, North Carolina, where several protesters toppled the Confederate Soldiers Monument outside the Old Durham County Courthouse on August 15, 2017 . Eight activists were arrested in connection with the illegal action . </P>

When was the first civil war statue taken down