The outbreak of violence at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017 led to renewed debate in the United States about the appropriateness and meaning of public monuments to Confederate figures. Was removing statues, memorials, and other commemorations of those who fought on the Southern side in the Civil War a form of “political correctness” tantamount to “changing history”, or was it a justified end to displaying “explicit symbols of white supremacy” in America’s public spaces?

That debate included, typically, the circulation via social media of memes attempting to foster skewed historical perspectives on the Civil War and slavery, including this one which juxtaposed purported quotes from President Abraham Lincoln and Confederate General Robert E. Lee on those subjects.