The1862 Illinois Constitutional Convention, dominated by Democrats (the war was not going well when the delegates were elected) drafted the notorious "Copperhead Constitution" which was rejected by the voters on June 17, 1862. It would have enacted a reapportionment favorable to southern Illinois; banned African Americans from entering the state; ended incumbent Republican state officeholders' terms halfway while circuit and county clerks, mainly Democrats, were allowed to serve out their full terms, etc....
However, here is a fact some may find surprising: the Bill of Rights provided in Article 2, section 31: " That the people of this State regard the union of the states, under the federal constitution, as permanent and indissoluble, from which no State has a constitutional right to withdraw or secede." http://www.idaillinois.org/…/293/cpd…/document/pftype/image…
As far as I know, this is the only actual or proposed Illinois Constitution which specifically rejects the right to secede! Maybe the Republicans were correct in arguing that many of the Democrats secretly sympathized with the Confederacy but it is noteworthy that even "Copperheads" felt obliged to publicly repudiate the idea of secession.
As for the private thoughts of the Peace Democrats or "Copperheads" (who of course were far from being the entire northern Democracy): My own guess is that while the Copperheads thought the war was unwinnable and blamed the "abolition fanaticism" of the "Black Republicans" for it, they really did want reunion--after all, it would be a lot easier to win national elections with all those southern states backing their party. Many of them may have honestly believed that if only the Republicans were voted out of office and a cease-fire arranged, negotiations could be arranged to restore "the Union as it was." Of course, if they believed that, they were wrong, and had they won office (and by "they" I mean the Democrats led in 1864 not by McClellan but by a Peace Democrat like Thomas Seymour of Connecticut or George W. Woodward of Pennsylvania) and gone through with a cease-fire-and-negotiations without preconditions , by the time that they learned that the South was not going to reunite with even a Copperhead-dominated North it would be impossible to start the war over again--and in any event they would not want to, feeling it would be futile.
However, here is a fact some may find surprising: the Bill of Rights provided in Article 2, section 31: " That the people of this State regard the union of the states, under the federal constitution, as permanent and indissoluble, from which no State has a constitutional right to withdraw or secede." http://www.idaillinois.org/…/293/cpd…/document/pftype/image…
As far as I know, this is the only actual or proposed Illinois Constitution which specifically rejects the right to secede! Maybe the Republicans were correct in arguing that many of the Democrats secretly sympathized with the Confederacy but it is noteworthy that even "Copperheads" felt obliged to publicly repudiate the idea of secession.
As for the private thoughts of the Peace Democrats or "Copperheads" (who of course were far from being the entire northern Democracy): My own guess is that while the Copperheads thought the war was unwinnable and blamed the "abolition fanaticism" of the "Black Republicans" for it, they really did want reunion--after all, it would be a lot easier to win national elections with all those southern states backing their party. Many of them may have honestly believed that if only the Republicans were voted out of office and a cease-fire arranged, negotiations could be arranged to restore "the Union as it was." Of course, if they believed that, they were wrong, and had they won office (and by "they" I mean the Democrats led in 1864 not by McClellan but by a Peace Democrat like Thomas Seymour of Connecticut or George W. Woodward of Pennsylvania) and gone through with a cease-fire-and-negotiations without preconditions , by the time that they learned that the South was not going to reunite with even a Copperhead-dominated North it would be impossible to start the war over again--and in any event they would not want to, feeling it would be futile.