This isn't what you think it is. However, it will be a bit of a history lesson. Let's jump back to the first half of the 1800s and learn us some good ole 'merikan nativism.
For the first half of American life, the Irish Catholics were only a step above the slaves. Presidents played into jingoistic fears of the American masses. The idea that the Catholic faith pledged their lives not to Washington, but to Rome, meant that they were a threat to American sovereignty. They were the first "subversives" in American history. As Irish immigrants flooded the cities of America, "real Americans" formed a separate political party, the American Party.
In many of these cities, fears were real. Crime rates soared. Murders rapidly increased. Overpopulation and unemployment strained the welfare system. With the Irish being inextricably linked to the Democratic Party, many soured on the organization. Instead, a secret order was born. "The Order of the Star Spangled Banner" was formed in New York. Their keyword on the streets when asked about the order was "I know nothing" hence the name.
Whig candidates immediately emerged as members of the Know Nothings. In 1854, Know Nothing candidates picked up seats in all of New England. They promised a crackdown on crime, the closing of saloons on the Sabbath, and demanded that only native-born Americans would be allowed to run for office. By the end of 1854, nearly 1 million Americans flocked to the Know Nothing Party as the Whigs began to deteriorate. The two-party system was rocked to its core.
Growing anti-party sentiment, fueled by anti-slavery as well as temperance and nativism, also contributed to the disintegration of the party system. The collapsing second party system gave the Know Nothings a much larger pool of potential converts than was available to previous nativist organizations, allowing the Order to succeed where older nativist groups had failed.
- Anbinder
Nativism and Slavery
As the American Party began to gain steam, they built their official party platform.
* Severe limits on immigration, especially from Catholic countries.
* Restricting political office to native-born Americans of English and/or Scottish lineage and Protestant persuasion.
* Mandating a wait of 21 years before an immigrant could gain citizenship.
* Restricting public school teacher positions to Protestants.
* Mandating daily Bible readings in public schools.
* Restricting the sale of liquor.
* Restricting the use of languages other than English.
They played on the fears of Protestants and German immigrants. Their New England successes rapidly moved westward. Victories in the Midwest and San Francisco saw employment outlawed to Catholics and Chinese respectively. As Democrats began to fight back, the Know Nothings grew violent. In August 1855 22 people were killed in an effort to intimidate Catholics from voting.
Their dreams were shattered when American Party candidate Millard Fillmore lost the election to possibly the worst President ever: James Buchanan. Fractures within the party began to show.
The death knell for the Know Nothings wasn't actually a death knell at all. Instead, with their victory in Dred Scott Decision the American Party was broken in to abolitionist and pro-slavery factions. Some joined the newly born Republicans, others in the South continued with their nativist dreams.