Alexander H. Stephens was an American politician. He was Vice President of the Confederate states from 1861 to 1865 and later served as the 50th governor of Georgia for only three months, from 1882 until his death in 1883. Stevens is infamous for the Cornerstone Address; a speech he delivered in March of 1861. During the speech, Stevens laid out a vision for the Confederate states that was completely contingent upon the defense of slavery as the South’s own “peculiar” institution.

He said that slavery was the result of the inferiority of the black race and explained that the fundamental difference between the constitution of the United States and the constitution of the Confederate states was that the Confederate states constitution was based on the idea that white superiority conveyed rights and privileges that need not be granted to enslaved people. He stated, “Our new governments foundations are laid its cornerstone rests upon the great truth that the black man is not equal to the white man.” Stevens believed that science proved the inferiority of Black people and that the slavery was compatible with biblical principles.

A statue depicting and dedicated to Alexander Stephens sits in the National Statuary Hall. The Department of the Architect of the Capital, or AOC, a government agency in charge of the hall maintains a website describing the many monuments and item items that are on display in the capital. Their website contains a description of Alexander Stevens statue that does not include any meaningful description of his participation in the Confederacy or in the address he delivered to the southern states in the cornerstone address. The description on this government funded website makes no mention of any negative aspect of Stevens character instead it touts his humble origins as a poor orphan and his education through law school.