Progress at the Ol’ Smith Furniture Building, 2015

In the early 19th century, fears grew in the Northern states that there would be no jobs for white workers due to slavery, so part of the Republican Party’s platform leading into the election of 1860 was to make human slavery illegal. However, ending slavery would cripple the industry in the South. In 1861, seven Southern states seceded from the United States of America following the inauguration of Republican President Abraham Lincoln and unified as the Confederate States of America, becoming the first domestic terrorists. After four years of civil war and around 700,000 lives lost, the United States of America, or the Union Army, won and the Confederate states rejoined the Union. Although having to admit defeat, moving forward those who served the Confederacy were allowed to hold office, influence laws, erect statues and monuments, and refer to their treason as “Southern heritage”.