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Confederate Sympathies Almost Carried California

Here's an excerpt from an interesting article that deals with Confederate sympathies in Contra Costa County, California, during the Civil War. Contra Costa is the location of present day Oakland, Berkeley, Walnut Creek and other cities across the bay from San Francisco.

Most people probably don't realize how extensive the sentiment for secession was in the far west. Below this snippet is a link to the whole article.

Snakes in the Grass: Copperheads in Contra Costa?

By William Mero

The only poisonous snakes found today in Contra Costa are rattlesnakes. A Copperhead is a well camouflaged, deadly reptile that strikes without warning. During the Civil War, anti-war Democrats were labeled by the Republican press as "Copperheads." Many supported the Confederate States of America. Within the archives of the Contra Costa History Center there is evidence that a number of Copperheads were alive and active in Contra Costa County.

In California the Presidential campaign of 1860 split the politically dominant Democratic Party into two factions, Southern Democrats who supported Breckenridge and secession and those who supported Douglas and the Union.

Breckenridge Democrats attacked Lincoln for his support of a unified nation and equal legal rights for free blacks. In 1861 southern supporters hoped to capture the California legislature and win the governor's race. Instead they lost control of the legislature and saw the election of the first Republican governor of California, Leland Stanford. Losing political power and patronage, many of the Democrat politicians who had governed California throughout the 1850's began to drift away to either the mines of the Nevada Comstock or to join the southern rebel armies. Six state senators, one congressman, and 20% of the southern Democrat state assemblymen left California to join the Confederacy.

http://www.cocohistory.com/essays-copperheads.html