Six years after the city of Wilmington, Delaware, took it down in the midst of Black Lives Matter protests that roiled the United States, the National Park Service plans to reinstate a statue of Caesar Rodney—a signer of the Declaration of Independence who enslaved more than 200 people at the plantation he owned—in Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C.
As reported by the Washington Post, which cited Interior Department documents obtained by the paper, the statue’s resurrection is a planned part of the nation’s 250th birthday celebration this summer. The statue would stand for up to six months on a concourse on Pennsylvania Avenue in the plaza named in tribute to Martin Luther King Jr.
When asked to confirm the plan, an Interior Department spokesperson told the Post, “As we approach America’s 250th anniversary, the Trump administration has been committed to celebrating and acknowledging the full breadth of our nation’s history, including the story of Caesar Rodney and his pivotal ride in July 1776. Despite being gravely ill with a cancerous condition that caused him constant pain, he rode through a violent storm to cast Delaware’s deciding vote for American Independence. The hard work and sacrifices of the men and women who built this nation deserve to be remembered and honored.”
Spotlight Delaware reported last fall that the statue would likely figure in the 250th festivities, after ” a years-long crusade” by Delaware state senator Eric Buckson, who told the Post, “The purpose of locating him in D.C. for the country is to tell the story of the ride and the significance of that midnight ride. He’s the reason there is a Fourth of July.”
Buckson said he hopes the statue will find a home back in Delaware. About Rodney’s ownership of slaves, he said, “You’ve got to be able to tell that side of the story, fairly. I really hope that people are willing to celebrate his ride and agree that at a later date we can tell the story of the man and his legacy to Delaware.”
The Interior Department did not respond to questions about whether the presentation of the Rodney statue would acknowledge his role as an enslaver, according to the Post, which noted the recent resurrection of other toppled memorials including a statue of Confederate general Albert Pike in downtown Washington and a Confederate memorial in Arlington National Cemetery. About the latter, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote, “It never should have been taken down by woke lemmings.”
