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Unionist politician (American Civil War)

Southern Unionists in the border states organized political parties to oppose secession from the United States during the American Civil War. They extended critical support to the wartime administration of Abraham Lincoln while remaining outside Lincoln's Republican Party. While some harbored antislavery sympathies, most Unionists viewed the abolitionist movement with hostility and initially resisted Lincoln's efforts on behalf of emancipation. Unionist governments were opposed by Copperheads who opposed Lincoln's wartime policies and in some cases the war itself, as well as Confederate regular and irregular military forces.

Name
In its broadest application, "unionist" referred to active opponents of secession in the slave states who remained loyal to the national government following the commencement of hostilities in April 1861. Some historians and contemporary sources use the term "unconditional unionist" to distinguish between this former group and "conditional unionists" who ultimately supported the Confederacy. Elected politicians who pledged unconditional loyalty to the United States during the war were called "Unionists" or "Unconditional Unionists." These terms were sometimes used interchangeably; in other cases, they referred to distinct party organizations, as in Maryland, where the Unconditional Union Party defeated the Conservative Unionists in the 1863 elections. Unionist political parties in the border states and areas of the Confederacy occupied by the Union Army had a variety of names, including the Union Party, the Union Democratic Party, the Unconditional Union Party, and the Emancipation Party. As the war progressed, rival Radical and Conservative organizations divided Unionists in several states. In Missouri, the Conservative state organization called itself the Unconditional Union Party in 1864; its opposition formed the Radical Union Party. Dissimilarly, in Kentucky, Maryland, Tennessee, and West Virginia, the "Unconditional Union Party" was the name used by the Radical faction. Many of these state Union parties sent delegates to the 1864 National Union Convention, including both Missouri Unionist factions. ==References==
Source: Wikipedia ↗
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