Explore the Zebulon Vance about the 21st-century controversy of this artwork.

The main controversy with the Vance Monument stemmed from Zebulon Vance's connection to slavery and his racist attitudes toward African Americans. Kerby Price, a historic interpreter at the Vance Birthplace State Historic Site says, "Vance, born in 1830, remains one of North Carolina's most noteworthy politicians. He also owned [six] slaves. During his nearly 40 years of leadership, the statesman never publicly denounced the practice." As a member of the U.S. Congress in March 1860, Vance said, "Plainly and unequivocally, common sense says keep the slave where he is now—in servitude. The interest of the slave himself imperatively demands it. The interest of the master, of the United States, of the world, nay of humanity itself, says, keep the slave in his bondage; treat him humanely, teach him Christianity, care for him in sickness and old age, and make his bondage light as may be; but above all, keep him a slave and in strict subordination; for that is his normal condition; the one in which alone he can promote the interest of himself or of his fellows."
Vance Birthplace State Historic Site Zebulon Vance U.S. Congress