From The Gettysburg Battlefield To The Appomattox Courthouse
The Copperhead catechism. For the instruction of such politicians as are of tender years. New York: Sinclair Tousey, 1864. |
Issued during the 1864 election season, this work is a Republican attempt to answer the Lincoln Catechism (item 28) by lampooning and ridiculing leaders of the Copperheads, particularly Fernando Wood (1812-1881), who is referred to as “Fernando the Gothamite, High Priest of the Order of Copperheads.” A two-term mayor of New York City as well as a congressman, Wood, during his term as mayor (1860-1862), suggested to the city’s common council that the city secede and declare itself free in order to continue a profitable cotton trade with the Confederacy. Lin 2048.19 The William Whiting Nolen Collection of Lincolniana. |
