Copperheads
Union war opponents
Copperheads are venomous pit vipers native to eastern North America, named for their copper-colored heads.
During the American Civil War, Copperhead became the label for Northern Democrats who opposed the war and advocated peace with the Confederacy—the snake imagery suggesting they struck without warning.
The Copperheads accused Lincoln of tyranny.
Fanged toxic serpent
- venomousProducing injected toxins
- fangsSharp piercing teeth
- scalesPlates or weighing devices
- slitherGlide smoothly, sinuously
reptile · serpent · camouflage · ambush · hiss · cold-blooded · ectotherm · shedding
Opposed to armed conflict
- dissentDisagreement with authority
- Civil WarCountrymen fighting countrymen
- DemocratBlue party supporter
- armisticeAgreement to cease hostilities
negotiation · Union · 1860s · draft resistance · habeas corpus · sedition · partisan · political
viper
Fanged toxic serpent
slither · reptile · serpent · camouflage · ambush · hiss · cold-blooded · ectotherm · shedding · herpetology
antiwar
Opposed to armed conflict
- dissentDisagreement with authority
- Civil WarCountrymen fighting countrymen
- DemocratBlue party supporter
armistice · negotiation · Union · 1860s · draft resistance · habeas corpus · sedition · partisan · political
- Confederate Sympathizerssecessionists, fire-eaters, blockade runners
- Political PartiesRepublican Party, Democratic Party, Labour Party, Conservative Party, Green Party
- Presidential Electionsballot, ballot box, electoral votes, popular vote, voter turnout
- American MovementsFreedom Riders, Sons of Liberty, Underground Railroad, Wobblies, Beat Generation
CopperheadsRadical Republicans
Strict Reconstruction-era congressional bloc
abolitionists · emancipationists · hardliners · war hawks · hawks