Copperhead (politics)

"Peace Democrats" redirects here. For the South Korean political party, see Peace Democratic Party.
Copperhead Democrats
Historical leadersClement Vallandigham
Alexander Long
Founded1860 (1860)
Dissolved1868 (1868)
IdeologyAnti-abolitionism
Anti-Civil War
Jacksonianism
National affiliationDemocratic Party

In the 1860s, the Copperheads, also known as Peace Democrats,[1] were a faction of the Democratic Party in the Union who opposed the American Civil War and wanted an immediate peace settlement with the Confederates.

Republicans started labeling anti-war Democrats "Copperheads" after the eastern copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix), a species of venomous snake. Those Democrats embraced the moniker, reinterpreting the copper "head" as the likeness of Liberty, which they cut from Liberty Head large cent coins and proudly wore as badges.[2] By contrast, Democratic supporters of the war were called War Democrats. Notable Copperheads included two Democratic Congressmen from Ohio: Reps. Clement L. Vallandigham and Alexander Long. Republican prosecutors accused some prominent Copperheads of treason in a series of trials in 1864.[3]

Copperheadism was a highly contentious grassroots movement. It had its strongest base just north of the Ohio River and in some urban ethnic wards. In the State of Ohio, perhaps in contrast with Indiana and Illinois, the counties that had Peace Democrat majorities tended not to be along the Ohio River, but more in the central and northwestern portions of the state.[4] Historians such as Wood Gray, Jennifer Weber and Kenneth M. Stampp[citation needed] have argued that it represented a traditionalistic element alarmed at the rapid modernization of society sponsored by the Republican Party and that it looked back to Jacksonian democracy for inspiration. Weber argues that the Copperheads damaged the Union war effort by opposing conscription, encouraging desertion, and forming conspiracies. Still, other historians say that the draft was already in disrepute and that the Republicans greatly exaggerated the conspiracies for partisan reasons.[5][6][page needed]

Historians such as Gray and Weber argue that the Copperheads were inflexibly rooted in the past and were naive about the refusal of the Confederates to return to the Union. Convinced that the Republicans were ruining the traditional world they loved, they were obstructionist partisans.[7] In turn, the Copperheads became a significant target of the National Union Party in the 1864 presidential election, when they were used to discredit the leading Democratic candidates.

Copperhead support increased when Union armies did poorly and decreased when they won great victories. After the fall of Atlanta in September 1864, Union military success seemed assured, and Copperheadism collapsed.

  1. ^ Weber, Jennifer L. (2006). Copperheads: The Rise and Fall of Lincoln's Opponents in the North. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 1. ISBN 1429420448. OCLC 76960635.
  2. ^ Benjamin P. Thomas, Abraham Lincoln: A Biography (1952) p. 377.
  3. ^ Wertheim, (1989).
  4. ^ Carl, Denbow (4 July 2013). "1863 Gubernatorial Election". The Glorious 78th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry. Retrieved 30 Apr 2023.
  5. ^ Gray, Wood (1942). The Hidden Civil War. Penguin Books.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Andrew L. Slap; Michael Thomas Smith, eds. (2013). This Distracted and Anarchical People: New Answers for Old Questions about the Civil War-Era North. Fordham University Press. p. 47. ISBN 9780823245680.