Republicans started calling them Copperheads, likening them to the poisonous snake.
Interestingly, they accepted the label but because the copperhead to them was the likeness of Liberty, which they cut from copper pennies and proudly wore as badges.
The Copperheads were primarily located in the Midwest, in states such as Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.
They were often rural, working-class individuals who were adversely affected by the war.
Many were farmers, laborers, and small business owners who felt the economic strain of the war and were concerned about the potential competition for jobs from freed slaves if the Union were to win the war.
Politically, the Copperheads were staunchly opposed to President Abraham Lincoln and his war policies.
They were particularly critical of his decision to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared slaves in Confederate-held territory to be free.
They saw this as a violation of states’ rights and believed it would only prolong the war.
Their influence peaked in the mid-term elections of 1862 when they made significant gains in the House of Representatives.
However, their power began to wane after the Union victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg in 1863, which turned the tide of the war in favor of the North.
By the end of the war, the Copperheads were largely discredited and had lost much of their political influence.
Perhaps the most famous Copperhead was Ohio’s Clement L. Vallandigham. Many counties in Ohio and Indiana continued to exist as a kind of solid south in exile for years along the Ohio River.
Use of “Copperheads” in a sentence
American Heritage (February 1964): “The man was Clement L. Vallandigham—the most reviled member of that controversial political sect of the American Civil War, the Copperheads.”
American Heritage (February 1964): “Even in Copperhead circles, Vallandigham was considered an extremist.”
West Virginia University Historical Review: “Clement Vallandigham, perhaps the most notorious Copperhead of the Civil War, would be arrested as a result of this order.”