Sentence:  The Providence Daily Journal answered the Daily Post by stating that the raid of John Brown <WSD>was</WSD> characteristic of Democratic acts of violence and that `` He was acting in direct opposition to the Republican Party , who proclaim as one of their cardinal principles that they do not interfere with slavery in the states '' . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)