[1] Many historians have argued that the purpose of the statue was to venerate slavery and the Antebellum South, and to intimidate and marginalize black Charlestonians.

[3] According to Mamie Garvin Fields, born in 1888, she later stated, "I believe white people were talking to us about Jim Crow through that statue.

"[3] Several other black Charlestonians felt that the statue was a threatening message to them: that even though Calhoun was dead, his spirit still lingered in the streets Charleston, South Carolina.

[4] The individual who completed the 1896 monument was an Irish-born contractor, Daniel A. J. Sullivan, who is listed as a carpenter by trade and eventually became a prominent builder in Charleston after the American Civil War.

[5] Over time, the statue became controversial for Calhoun's staunchly pro-slavery views, especially in the aftermath of the 2015 shooting at the nearby Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.

[7] In the wake of the murder of George Floyd in the summer of 2020, there were calls across the United States to remove monuments and statues connected with the lost cause myth or individuals who supported slavery.