Copperheads - c1863

Replica of a c1863 Copperhead hat-pin

In the 1860s, the Copperheads, also known as Peace Democrats, were a faction of the Democratic Party in the Union who opposed the American Civil War and wanted an immediate peace settlement with the Confederates. Republicans started labeling anti-war Democrats “Copperheads” after the eastern copperhead, a species of venomous snake. Those Democrats embraced the moniker, reinterpreting the copper “head” as the likeness of Liberty, which they cut from Liberty Head large cent coins and proudly wore as badges

Purchased in a Gettysburg, PA gift shop – 

“Copperhead breast pin actually worn by a Copperhead in Orange NJ who thought “Hell was too good a place for Lincoln” – 1863