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Copperhead

Northern Peace Democrats who opposed the American Civil War

Founded: 1850

Overview

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In the 1860s, the Peace Democrats, also known as Copperheads, were a faction of the Democratic Party in the North 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, 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. 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.

Overview

All data

14 statements · 21% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Members / parts: Clement Vallandigham
Dissolved: 1864

On other databases

10 identifiers linking Copperhead across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

21%

externally sourced

Source last edited July 16, 2026. AIDb refreshes this page daily.

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AIDb. (2026). Copperhead (Q510690). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/copperhead-Q510690