[3] He rose to prominence after his vital role in the Confederate victory at the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861, continuing to command troops until his untimely death on May 10, 1863, after falling fatally ill following the amputation of his wounded arm.

[5] Being polled for the issue among several organizations, state residents were split among full removal of the monuments and leaving them in place and adding informative context such as signage.

[6] Under the supervision of local civic groups from 1890 till 1919 several statues were erected at successive street intersections along Monument Avenue in Richmond, commemorating great Confederate men.

[12] Richmond was a focal point for the narrative of the Lost Cause with several of the most well-known Confederate men's statues along Monument Avenue in Lee, Jackson and Davis.

[11] More recently, the statues on Monument Avenue have come under scrutiny after the murder of George Floyd and the renewed global attention on the importance of the Black Lives Matter Movement.

[14] Through protesting, the BLM movement seeks to illustrate how statues of Confederate commanders came to symbolize the lack of freedom, liberty and justice black people had, historically and today.

[11] As part of the BLM protests, Jackson's monument was vandalized and on July 1, 2020, the equestrian statue was removed on the mayor's orders, with the base the only remaining feature.

[15] The shifting status quo is perhaps best described in a letter to the Richmond Mayor, Levar Stoney and members of the Monument Avenue Commission from descendants of Thomas Jackson.

[11] This represented a global shift away from honoring figures who attempted to maintain great inequalities in society, as issues of racial injustice and discrimination are being addressed and publicly condemned.