Spring Break
Copperhead expert gives take on Civil War
Frank Benik / Staff Reporter
Issue date: 2/23/09 Section: News
Copperhead was the name given to Confederate sympathizers in the North by Republicans because they saw such supporters as dangerous snakes waiting to strike the Union war effort.
In commemoration of Abraham Lincoln's bicentennial birthday, Civil War scholar and author Jennifer L. Weber gave a lecture on the 16th president and the Copperheads.
The event was received by a full audience at the Doudna Arts Center Lecture Hall Friday evening.
The lecture detailed how close the Copperheads came to toppling Lincoln's office and ruining his attempt to preserve the Union.
Weber said Copperheads in the North grew to embrace the nickname and even adopted the penny, known as a copperhead, as a badge to display their position.
"The Copperheads saw themselves as the defenders of personal liberties and of state's rights, but were often virulent racists," she said. "They were strict constructionists on the Constitution, and absolutely terrified by any consolidation of power."
The Copperheads saw all of Lincoln's wartime actions, from the suspension of habeas corpus to the creation of a military draft as a violation of rights.
The Copperheads, according to Weber, never fully realized or acknowledged the crisis of the Civil War.
The lecture covered many of the problems Lincoln faced during his presidency and throughout the war. From sagging poll numbers, increasing public criticism and even the growing dissent from his party, the Republicans, over the Emancipation Proclamation, the pressure on Lincoln was tremendous.
Facing almost certain defeat in his re-election bid in the late summer of 1864, Lincoln told his advisers, "We will go down with our principles," over his stubbornness to give up the Emancipation Proclamation against the wishes of his own political party. Despite the grim forecast, Lincoln was elected to a second term six weeks before his assassination and the Copperheads went into hiding.
The Eastern history department sponsored the event, with support from the Robert and Nancy Hennings Fund.
Weber is author of the book, "Copperheads: The Rise and Fall of Lincoln's Opponents in the North," and is an assistant professor of history at the University of Kansas.
Frank Benik can be reached at 581-7942 or at DENnewsdesk@gmail.com.
In commemoration of Abraham Lincoln's bicentennial birthday, Civil War scholar and author Jennifer L. Weber gave a lecture on the 16th president and the Copperheads.
The event was received by a full audience at the Doudna Arts Center Lecture Hall Friday evening.
The lecture detailed how close the Copperheads came to toppling Lincoln's office and ruining his attempt to preserve the Union.
Weber said Copperheads in the North grew to embrace the nickname and even adopted the penny, known as a copperhead, as a badge to display their position.
"The Copperheads saw themselves as the defenders of personal liberties and of state's rights, but were often virulent racists," she said. "They were strict constructionists on the Constitution, and absolutely terrified by any consolidation of power."
The Copperheads saw all of Lincoln's wartime actions, from the suspension of habeas corpus to the creation of a military draft as a violation of rights.
The Copperheads, according to Weber, never fully realized or acknowledged the crisis of the Civil War.
The lecture covered many of the problems Lincoln faced during his presidency and throughout the war. From sagging poll numbers, increasing public criticism and even the growing dissent from his party, the Republicans, over the Emancipation Proclamation, the pressure on Lincoln was tremendous.
Facing almost certain defeat in his re-election bid in the late summer of 1864, Lincoln told his advisers, "We will go down with our principles," over his stubbornness to give up the Emancipation Proclamation against the wishes of his own political party. Despite the grim forecast, Lincoln was elected to a second term six weeks before his assassination and the Copperheads went into hiding.
The Eastern history department sponsored the event, with support from the Robert and Nancy Hennings Fund.
Weber is author of the book, "Copperheads: The Rise and Fall of Lincoln's Opponents in the North," and is an assistant professor of history at the University of Kansas.
Frank Benik can be reached at 581-7942 or at DENnewsdesk@gmail.com.
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