During the Civil War in the 1860s, Northern Democrats were divided into two factions: the War Democrats, who supported the military policies of Republican President Abraham Lincoln, and the Copperheads opposed the Civil War and wanted an immediate peace settlement with the Southern Democrat Confederates, even if it meant not achieving the full victory and, thus, not abolishing slavery.

The copperheads were motivated by a fear that emancipated slaves would enter the labor force and threaten the livelihoods of northern Democratic Party workers. This faction of the Democratic Party proved to be one of Lincoln's greatest threats during the Civil War. Lincoln described them as the “fire in the rear” that undermined his war effort.

The notorious leader of the Copperheads, Clement Vallandigham (1820 – 1871), a lawyer and former Ohio congressman who advocated for a negotiated peace and antiwar demonstrations while campaigning to become the governor was arrested by the military commander of Ohio in May 1863.

After the Civil War, Republicans from the North who relocated to the South to support Reconstruction (1865 – 1877) were called “Carpetbaggers“ and white Southerners who supported Reconstruction policies were called “Scalawags.”

Carpetbaggers and Scalawags were subjected to intimidation, with some being lynched by the Ku Klux Klan.