Statues were erected around the South for one reason, to intimidate Black Americans. They weren't erected in the years immediately following the Civil War to commemorate confederate war heroes. A sudden jump in statues coincided with the Jim Crow era and most were erected when lynchings were at their peak. There was another surge of statues in the South during the Civil Rights movement in the 50s and 60s. To the people who put them up, they represent the good old days when blacks were not considered citizens and could be subjugated by the white majority.