Anti-war
Democrats became known as Copperheads during the Civil War. They opposed the war which they blamed on
abolitionist and supported those who resisted the draft. Many of the Copperhead offered encouragement
to Union soldiers leaving the war, trying to increase the rate of
desertion. There was even some talk
about releasing Confederate prisoners of war.
The
Democratic Party broke along regional lines during the 1860 Presidential race,
which allowed Abraham Lincoln the Republican candidate to become president. As secession became a reality, Northern
Democrats felt more conciliatory toward the Southern state then the Republican
did, and they began calling themselves Peace Democrats. A large portion of these Peace Democrats were
located in the Midwest, and it was during the Indiana Democratic Convention
that the Cincinnati Gazette coined the named Copperheads for this group on July
30th 1862. The name came from
the copper pennies many wore as badges.
Copperhead
reached their height at the 1864 Presidential Convention when one of their
leaders Clement Laird Valladigham of Ohio persuaded the party to adopt a platform
which included calling the war a failure.
When the war ended so did any backing the Copperheads had enjoyed. Most in the north felt that the Copperheads
had actually made the war longer, by holding out hope to the Confederate states
that northerners wanted peace.
Loved this history--I didn't know they were named after wearing badge pennies. I had heard they were named after copperhead snakes by those who disliked their politics. Thank you for this great blog. I saw your comment on the movie Copperhead site and followed the link to this post. I have written a novella featuring some Copperhead thought, about the Draft Riot in New York City 150 years ago. This is of special interest to me and you did a great job exploring the history of the movement of the Peace Democrats.
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