A California Copperhead

In the early 1860s, Copperheads were northern Democrats who opposed Union war policy and demanded peace and independence for the Confederacy. Copperheads were vigourous supporters of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and States Rights.

The most notable Copperhead was Ohio Congressman Clement Vallandigham who maintained that the Southern States had a right to secede, and that the U.S. Federal Government had no Constitutional ability to force them back into the Union.

On May 5, 1863, Congressman Vallandigham was arrested by Federal troops under General A.E. Burnside. Over the next two days he was tried by a military court, denied a writ of habeas corpus, convicted of "uttering disloyal sentiments", and sentenced to two years confinement in a military prison. President Lincoln offered to free Congressman Vallandigham if several other Ohio Congressman would agree to support the war policies of his Administration.

Vallandigham's political views were incorrect, according to the prevailing powers north of the Ohio River. He was imprisoned in America without a fair trial because of his "disloyal speech". Then, he was offered for political ransom by the man many call the greatest U.S. President.

In present day California, those who support the cause of Southern Nationalism hold views which are politically incorrect in much the same manner as were those of Clement Vallandigham. Should push ever come to shove again, we can expect similar treatment from the Authorities. Nevertheless, we must give voice to our convictions.

The American South is home to the surviving remnant of traditional American political values: Individual liberty and Constitutionally limited government under God. Within this broad framework, traditional Southern culture embraces the values and ethics upon which our nation was founded, the ethos which once defined who we were as a People.

Now, as traditional American values come under assault from every quarter, there are those who wonder where they can look for inspiration. Our ancestors came to these shores in search of freedom - where then can we go now that freedom is under assault in America?

The answer could arise in a new Southern Nation, a homeland for native Southrons as well as those other Americans who share their commitment to traditional American Liberty.

And so, I am a California Copperhead.

God Bless America! And God Bless The South!