The audio above is from an 1863 speech by Vallandigham to Congress, bashing the Civil War, Lincoln's administration, and pointing out the numerous casualties while blaming them on the North's goal to free the slaves.
The Head of the "Coppers"
His portrait may be ordinary, but Clement Vallandigham was anything but. He was the face of the Copperheads, and his ideals defined basically everything they stood for....
1. He despised Lincoln
2. He despised the Republican party
3. He despised the war
4. He despised abolition
So, because he despised all three of those things a lot, Clement V was okay with the South seceding and keeping slavery. If it would end the war, great! Then the nation would once again be at peace. As he said in a 1963 speech in front of Congress, "Slavery is only the subject, but Abolition the cause of this civil war. Neither will I be stopped by that other cry of mingled fanaticism and hypocrisy, about the sin and barbarism of African slavery. Sir, I see more of barbarism and sin, a thousand times, in the continuance of this war.” Basically: Clement thought that Lincoln was fighting the war to free all the slaves, but it's more "barbaric" to keep the war going, to keep killing millions of people, than to keep slavery going.
Clement never actually finished college, but he still passed the Ohio Bar Test in 1842 to become a lawyer. He was really interested in politics--he was elected to the Columbiana County legislature for a term, and then became an editor for The Dayton Empire, a Democratic newspaper in Dayton, Ohio. He ran unsuccessfully for Ohio's Lieutenant Governor in 1850, and then lost elections for the United States House of Representatives in 1852 and 1854. You would think that, having lost three consecutive elections, Clement would have given up his political career--but no, he FINALLY was elected to the House of Representatives in 1856.
Naturally, during his time in Congress, the very politically-minded Clement found himself stuck in the middle of lots of key Civil War issues. Remember, as a Copperhead, his #1 goal was "peace" by means of an end to the war. So, in 1861, Clement supported the Crittenden Comrpomise, that said that...
1. He despised Lincoln
2. He despised the Republican party
3. He despised the war
4. He despised abolition
So, because he despised all three of those things a lot, Clement V was okay with the South seceding and keeping slavery. If it would end the war, great! Then the nation would once again be at peace. As he said in a 1963 speech in front of Congress, "Slavery is only the subject, but Abolition the cause of this civil war. Neither will I be stopped by that other cry of mingled fanaticism and hypocrisy, about the sin and barbarism of African slavery. Sir, I see more of barbarism and sin, a thousand times, in the continuance of this war.” Basically: Clement thought that Lincoln was fighting the war to free all the slaves, but it's more "barbaric" to keep the war going, to keep killing millions of people, than to keep slavery going.
Clement never actually finished college, but he still passed the Ohio Bar Test in 1842 to become a lawyer. He was really interested in politics--he was elected to the Columbiana County legislature for a term, and then became an editor for The Dayton Empire, a Democratic newspaper in Dayton, Ohio. He ran unsuccessfully for Ohio's Lieutenant Governor in 1850, and then lost elections for the United States House of Representatives in 1852 and 1854. You would think that, having lost three consecutive elections, Clement would have given up his political career--but no, he FINALLY was elected to the House of Representatives in 1856.
Naturally, during his time in Congress, the very politically-minded Clement found himself stuck in the middle of lots of key Civil War issues. Remember, as a Copperhead, his #1 goal was "peace" by means of an end to the war. So, in 1861, Clement supported the Crittenden Comrpomise, that said that...
"In all the territory of the United States now held, or hereafter acquired, situate north of 36 degrees 30 minutes, slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, is prohibited while such territory shall remain under territorial government... and no amendment will be made to the Constitution which shall authorize or give to Congress any power to abolish or interfere with slavery in any of the States by whose laws it is, or may be, allowed or permitted"
Basically, slavery was illegal in the North, legal in the South, and no amendment to the Constitution in the future could change that. That was Clement's ideal picture: things were fine the way they were, and if it ain't broke, don't fix it!
Soon after the Crittenden Compromise was rejected by Congress, the tide of the war began to change. The Union started to win more battles, and public support throughout the North--including Ohio--gradually shifted towards supporting Lincoln's war effort, if it would bring about more victories. In 1862, the Ohio State Legislature was controlled by Lincoln-supporting Republicans, who needed to get extreme Democrat Clement out of Congress at all costs. So, they redrew Clement's voting district to give it a Republican majority, and, after 6 years in the House, Clement lost to Republican military hero Robert Schenck.
But not being in Congress didn't stop Clement from being involved in politics. He traveled around Ohio spreading his message of Copperheadism to anyone who would listen. However, Clement's anti-war attitudes began to lose support as Lincoln and the North's military effort continued to gain steam into the mid-1860s.
In 1863, Ohio was still filled with lots of Copperheads. The Republican commander of the Department of Ohio, Ambrose Burnside (a General in the war, and thus an enormous supporter of Lincoln and his war effort) needed to assert control of his state. So, he issued General Order No. 38…
Soon after the Crittenden Compromise was rejected by Congress, the tide of the war began to change. The Union started to win more battles, and public support throughout the North--including Ohio--gradually shifted towards supporting Lincoln's war effort, if it would bring about more victories. In 1862, the Ohio State Legislature was controlled by Lincoln-supporting Republicans, who needed to get extreme Democrat Clement out of Congress at all costs. So, they redrew Clement's voting district to give it a Republican majority, and, after 6 years in the House, Clement lost to Republican military hero Robert Schenck.
But not being in Congress didn't stop Clement from being involved in politics. He traveled around Ohio spreading his message of Copperheadism to anyone who would listen. However, Clement's anti-war attitudes began to lose support as Lincoln and the North's military effort continued to gain steam into the mid-1860s.
In 1863, Ohio was still filled with lots of Copperheads. The Republican commander of the Department of Ohio, Ambrose Burnside (a General in the war, and thus an enormous supporter of Lincoln and his war effort) needed to assert control of his state. So, he issued General Order No. 38…
“The habit of declaring sympathy for the enemy will not be allowed in this department. Persons committing such offenses will be at once arrested with a view of being tried . . .or sent beyond our lines into the lines of their friends. It must be understood that treason, expressed or implied, will not be tolerated in this department.”
Below: the dashing Ambrose Burnside. His beard just screams "take my General Order No. 38 seriously!"
Summed up: don't say anything in support of the Confederacy or against the Union, or you will be arrested, or exiled to the South! Of course, the very vocal Vallandigham ignored Burnside’s order, as did many Copperheads in Ohio. They believed that General Order No. 38 took away their freedom of speech, which was guaranteed in the First Amendment.
Clement utilized that freedom of speech to insult the Union at a Copperhead rally he organized on May 1, 1863—where two of Burnside’s army officers, in attendance, reported back to their commander. Immediately, Burnside sentenced Clement to become a Prisoner of War for the Union, and to remain in captivity until the end of the war. Vallandigham’s lawyer, George Pugh, appealed his case by saying that the military court went against his constitutional rights, but the judge sided with Burnside, declaring that, in order to prevent the overthrow of the Union, military dominance--including limiting rights granted by the Constitution--was needed to maintain order.
Once Pugh’s appeal was deemed unsuccessful, Lincoln caught wind of the news. The President was scared that the sentence of such an influential man would cause Copperheads throughout the Union to riot in protest of their leader’s arrest. To hopefully pacify the Peace Democrats, Lincoln altered Vallandigham’s sentence, exiling him into the Confederacy.
But despite being alright with the South keeing slavery, Clement wasn't really happy living in a place where everyone agreed with him politically. So, he soon escaped to Canada, where he still practiced Ohioan politics. In 1863, from Canada (!!!), he campaigned for Governor of Ohio, and was actually endorsed by members of the Democratic Convention in Ohio! However, Union victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg that year quelled mass support for anti-war Vallandigham, and he lost to Republican John Brough (and also, seriously, how could you expect to run a state from CANADA?!)
After he lost Governor, Ohio Democrats pressured Lincoln to allow for Clement's to return to Ohio. The President accepted, with one catch: Clement needed to profess his support to the Union. Clement refused, and so did Lincoln--but Clement still illegally returned to Ohio in 1864. He soon became the Supreme Commander of the Sons of Liberty or the Order of American Knights, a popular Copperhead secret society.
Clement utilized that freedom of speech to insult the Union at a Copperhead rally he organized on May 1, 1863—where two of Burnside’s army officers, in attendance, reported back to their commander. Immediately, Burnside sentenced Clement to become a Prisoner of War for the Union, and to remain in captivity until the end of the war. Vallandigham’s lawyer, George Pugh, appealed his case by saying that the military court went against his constitutional rights, but the judge sided with Burnside, declaring that, in order to prevent the overthrow of the Union, military dominance--including limiting rights granted by the Constitution--was needed to maintain order.
Once Pugh’s appeal was deemed unsuccessful, Lincoln caught wind of the news. The President was scared that the sentence of such an influential man would cause Copperheads throughout the Union to riot in protest of their leader’s arrest. To hopefully pacify the Peace Democrats, Lincoln altered Vallandigham’s sentence, exiling him into the Confederacy.
But despite being alright with the South keeing slavery, Clement wasn't really happy living in a place where everyone agreed with him politically. So, he soon escaped to Canada, where he still practiced Ohioan politics. In 1863, from Canada (!!!), he campaigned for Governor of Ohio, and was actually endorsed by members of the Democratic Convention in Ohio! However, Union victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg that year quelled mass support for anti-war Vallandigham, and he lost to Republican John Brough (and also, seriously, how could you expect to run a state from CANADA?!)
After he lost Governor, Ohio Democrats pressured Lincoln to allow for Clement's to return to Ohio. The President accepted, with one catch: Clement needed to profess his support to the Union. Clement refused, and so did Lincoln--but Clement still illegally returned to Ohio in 1864. He soon became the Supreme Commander of the Sons of Liberty or the Order of American Knights, a popular Copperhead secret society.
“Fortunate shall we be if we escape with our liberties. Indeed, it is no longer so much a question of war with the South, as whether we ourselves are to have constitutions and a republican form of government hereafter in the North and West. In brief: I am for the Constitution first, and at all hazards; for whatever can now be saved of the Union next; and for peace always as essential to the preservation of either”
--Clement Vallandigham, May 14, 1861
Find out more about Clement!
If you want to read his 1863 speech to Congress, On The War and Its Conduct, a great summary of his viewpoints:
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=1479
If you want more of Clement's speeches, quotes, and letters, check out Speeches, Arguments, Addresses, and Letters of Clement Vallandigham, a compilation put together by Clement's brother James:
http://ia700204.us.archive.org/18/items/speechesargument00vall/speechesargument00vall.pdf
If you want a brief biography:
http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=389
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=1479
If you want more of Clement's speeches, quotes, and letters, check out Speeches, Arguments, Addresses, and Letters of Clement Vallandigham, a compilation put together by Clement's brother James:
http://ia700204.us.archive.org/18/items/speechesargument00vall/speechesargument00vall.pdf
If you want a brief biography:
http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=389