Extra, Extra! We are the Copperheads!
The Copperheads needed a way to reach the public, so they published many newspapers across the Midwest and the North to get their message circulated among the people. A large portion of each newspaper was filled with editorials, written about Copperhead topics such as their dislike of Lincoln, their dislike of the war, and their dislike of the fact that the war now seemed to be focused on ending slavery (the Copperheads disliked many things). Below are some examples of and excerpts from articles found in Copperhead newspapers, to see just how they put their ideas into print.
***It's important to note, however, that the Copperhead newspapers were filled with extreme bias in favor of their movement. Joseph Harris, a Union soldier, wrote a letter to his Copperhead friend with questions he had after reading a Copperhead newspaper.
***It's important to note, however, that the Copperhead newspapers were filled with extreme bias in favor of their movement. Joseph Harris, a Union soldier, wrote a letter to his Copperhead friend with questions he had after reading a Copperhead newspaper.
Rationalizations to Keep Slavery
- "In its mad antagonism to slavery, the fanatical Abolitionism of the North precipated (sic) a peaceful and prosperous land into all the horrors of an internecine strife. In this, from the commencement, it has clearly shown that it was fighting against God and his decrees. Slavery was established on this continent for wise purposes in the Divine mind." The Philadelphia Age, 1864
- "This is precisely what the Declaration of Independence did not mean or George Washington would not have owned slaves.... Had the Negroes in those days been declared the equal of the white man, no union would have been formed and no constitution adopted. " The Philadelphia Age, 1863
- "How the Negro has lived so many ages without advancing seems marvelous, when all the countries surrounding Africa are so forward in comparison...At present the African can neither help himself or be helped by others." The London Review, 1864
African-Americans in Society & the Army
- "An educated and virtuous white woman was betrayed and outraged by a Negro, who had succeeded in keeping his victim buried from the knowledge of her friends and most respectable connections." The Ohio Statesman, 1864
- "Six Negroes violated the person of Mrs. G. eleven times, she being the wife of a brave soldier of the 9th Virginia Cavalry, being also sick at the time, with a six months' old at her breast. This is only one instance of twenty like outrages." The Richmond Enquirer, 1864
The Enquirer, a Confederate newspaper, recounted Colonel Alonzo Draper of Massachusetts bringing his regiment, including over 200 African-American soldiers, down to Virginia. The newspaper claimed that the African-American soldiers raped many women while marching (an unverified fact), including Mrs. G, the devoted wife of a "brave soldier," while with her infant.
- "Our gallant white army--the soldiers who fought and conquered under McClellan, Grant, Meade, and other white generals--will not feel very highly complimented at this attempt to exalt the Negro over their heads." The Philadelphia Age, 1864
The Age claimed that the Union was being defended and fought for by a "gallant white army," and was being led by "white generals." So, the inclusion and praise of African-American soldiers was very demoralizing to the white, or more important, soldiers.
Abraham Lincoln & his Handling of the War
- "The country has been so often skinned of men and money that it now accepts the operation as ordinary occurrence. The present call for 300,000 more [men] dose not, to be sure, elicit the 'loyal' enthusiastic voluntary response, 'We're coming, Father Abraham,' but it excites diligent action for the procurement of substitutes. The call occasions little discussion, because men are too busy in making arrangements to avoid the draft to waste time talking about it." The Chicago Times, 1864
The Chicago Times pointed out the Union's abuse of "money" and "men"--how so much money had been spent and so many men killed that it now seemed "ordinary" years into the war. The man at blame for the debt and deaths: President Lincoln. The article also made fun of him, nicknaming him "Father Abraham," a sarcastic reference to the Republicans who foolishly view him as a "Father" figure. But the newspaper also claimed that the followers of Lincoln were not happy with the draft he implemented, and that they did anything they could to avoid fighting for the Union and thus for their "Father." This article could be considered an eery prediction of the New York Draft Riots.
- The Philadelphia Age calculated that it cost $3,000,000 each day to keep the war going. That "would pay for the erection of 100,000 homes, so that every hundred days the war continues there is added to the load of taxation, a sum that would build another city like Philadelphia....This debt incurred in order to free the Negro, and raise him to an equality with the white man." The Philadelphia Age, 1864
Once again, the Copperheads claimed that the purpose of the war--and the blame for the billions of dollars of debt resulting from it--was to "free the Negro, and raise him to an equality with the white man." In addition to calling the Civil War a war fought for African-Americans, they were also criticizing Lincoln's handling of the war funds as Commander-in-Chief, and that he wasted millions of dollars each day.
Yankees & Abolitionists
- "The truth is, the Negro mania has been as mischievous in the conduct of the war, as it has been in and is in politics. Men who are smitten with this disease can or will see through no other medium." The Philadelphia Age, 1865
The Age characterized abolitionism as "Negro mania." They also called it a "disease", and said that it was incurable and running rampant throughout the Union.
- "There can be no movement contemplated or planned, into which some fidgetty humanitarian, or restless scheming poli- tician, will not thrust the Negro. He is the stock in trade of that school of politicians whose birthplace was Yankee land, and they display him from their windows, and hang him on the sides of their political car." The Philadelphia Age, 1865
The Age called out Union politicians for using abolition as a political tactic--to distinguish themselves from the South, to gain votes from like-minded, liberal, Republican Northerners, and to create a cause for the Civil War. Of course, Copperheads despised the fact that politicians "thrusted the Negro" out into the public sphere as the cause for the war, as they believed that fighting for African-Americans was not worth all the casualties.
Find out more about Copperhead Newspapers!
If you want to read the article in which most of these quotes (and many more) are found:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/2714641
If you want to read the exact text of The Chicago Times:
http://infoweb.newsbank.com.proxy.lib.duke.edu/iw-search/we/HistArchive/HistArchive?d_viewref=doc&p_docnum=-1&p_nbid=W55Q5DPQMTM1NDY2NDgzMC42MzgzNTI6MToxMzoxNTIuMy4xMDIuMjQy&f_docref=v2:11FE90201AF09ABC@EANX-1204F7A27575DA20@2402233-1204F7A28860E9A8@0&p_docref=v2:11FE90201AF09ABC@EANX-1204F7A27575DA20@2402233-1204F7A28860E9A8@0
http://www.jstor.org/stable/2714641
If you want to read the exact text of The Chicago Times:
http://infoweb.newsbank.com.proxy.lib.duke.edu/iw-search/we/HistArchive/HistArchive?d_viewref=doc&p_docnum=-1&p_nbid=W55Q5DPQMTM1NDY2NDgzMC42MzgzNTI6MToxMzoxNTIuMy4xMDIuMjQy&f_docref=v2:11FE90201AF09ABC@EANX-1204F7A27575DA20@2402233-1204F7A28860E9A8@0&p_docref=v2:11FE90201AF09ABC@EANX-1204F7A27575DA20@2402233-1204F7A28860E9A8@0