Ep. 10: Ohio v. the Copperheads (Clement Vallandigham)

Ohio V. The World

Episode 10: “Ohio v. the Copperheads” (Clement Vallandigham). Alex talks with US Air Force Academy Professor of History, Jennifer Weber, about the copperhead political movement in the North during the Civil War. We travel back to the homefront in Ohio and the Midwest during the war and find out millions of Americans were against the war effort and President Lincoln. We discuss the life of leading Copperhead politician, Clement Vallandigham, from Dayton, Ohio and Jennifer Weber’s great book: Copperheads: the Rise and Fall of Lincoln’s Opponents in the North. https://www.amazon.com/Copperheads-Rise-Lincolns-Opponents-North-dp-0195306686/dp/0195306686/ref=mt_hardcover?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid= Alex and Jennifer analyze the rise of the Peace Democrats in American Civil War politics and their ultimate collapse after the fall of Atlanta and the 1864 re-election of Lincoln. Events such as the Emancipation Proclamation, the suspension of Habeas Corpus and the New York City Draft Riots are discussed as the Copperheads nearly ascend to the White House where they would surely sue for peace from the South. We follow the arrest, exile and eventual gubernatorial run of Vallandigham in the State of Ohio in 1863 and his ultimate banishment from the history books. We look at the misguided political movement of Copperheadism and come to realize just how close this country was to giving up on the Civil War and officially recognizing the Confederate States of America. We follow Clement Vallandigham from Capitol Hill to Mount Vernon, OH to behind Confederate lines to exile in Canada and back to Ohio and his death in Lebanon, Ohio in 1871. Special thanks to Jenny Weber and go buy this book! It’s ground-breaking and a real page turner. https://www.amazon.com/Copperheads-Rise-Lincolns-Opponents-North-dp-0195306686/dp/0195306686/ref=mt_hardcover?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid= Disclaimer: *Everything Jennifer discussed was her opinion and not the position of the US Air Force Academy or the Department of Defense*

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