Ye Book of Copperheads

Bitter doggerel from the bloodiest year of the American Civil War, this unsigned pamphlet unleashes satirical verses upon the Copperheads: Northern Democrats who dared to oppose the war and whisper of peace with the Confederacy. Written in 1863, when the Union's wounds were fresh and the draft riots still smoked in New York's streets, the authors spare no venom in depicting their political enemies as cowards, traitors, and fools. The verses range from mocking jingles to extended portraits of politicians and ordinary citizens who questioned Lincoln's war. This is not history written with distance; it is propaganda hurled in fury, capturing how Unionists saw the enemy within their own borders. The humor lands hard and cruel, the accusations fly without mercy. For readers curious about how Americans fought each other with words while brothers fought with rifles, this artifact offers raw, unfiltered access to the partisan fury that split the North apart.