Until the late 1840s, most Americans were descended from British ancestors and most were Protestants. (See Protestantism.) The ethnic balance began to change around 1848. Between 1840 and 1860, the
numbers of Irish and German immigrants traveling to the United States
soared, reflecting the poor economies of both nations. (See Irish
Immigration and German Immigration.) Because of the rapid influx of
immigrants, the nation’s population doubled in size every twenty to
twenty-five years for most of the nineteenth century. Cities on the East
Coast were transformed as hundreds of thousands of immigrants arrived.
Though the newcomers would quickly rise in the ranks of American society, many began life in the United States in terrible poverty.
Nativism
Americans whose families had lived in the United States for a few generations often were hostile to the new immigrants. Uneasy about their own
futures, native-born workers feared that the immigrants would work in
poor conditions at extremely low wages, and this would endanger the
jobs and wages of long-time (American-born) workers. Adding to the
hostility were misunderstandings about the new immigrants’ religious
faiths—many were Catholics or, later, Jews—and their unfamiliar cultural customs. (See Catholicism and Jewish immigration.)
Nativism, the policy of favoring native-born citizens over immigrants, increased as the immigrant population grew. Irish Catholics were
often the target of nativism and discrimination. Nativists called for laws
to prevent immigrants and minorities from competing for their jobs or
gaining political power. As the competition in the workforce increased,
there were loud calls for restricting immigration.
From secret group to national party
In 1843, an anti-Catholic group called the American Republican Party
was formed in New York to attempt to halt immigration and protect jobs. Their campaigns resulted in riots, including one violent incident in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that resulted in twenty-four murders and
the burning of two Catholic churches. In 1845, the group reformed as a
national party called the Native American Party, which later renamed itself the American Party. They hoped to bar all naturalized citizens (immigrants who became citizens, rather than American-born citizens) from
political office, and to lengthen the waiting time for citizenship to
twenty-one years.
The American Party, also known as the Know-Nothings or the
Know-Nothing Party, was formed in 1849. Its members initially called it
the Order of the Star Spangled Banner. Part political party and part secret society, it maintained lodges open only to white, native-born citizens
and inducted new members with secret initiation rituals. When questioned about these rituals, members answered “I know nothing,” leading
many to call the party the Know-Nothings.
Rise and fall
The Know-Nothings claimed that immigrants—particularly the Irish
and other Catholics—threatened to destroy American values and democracy. The party raised fears of a conspiracy to use the U.S. voting system
to elect agents of the pope (the head of the Roman Catholic Church) so
that the pope could exert political control over the United States. KnowNothing campaigns, which worked up strong and sometimes violent
anti-immigrant feelings, were highly successful in the 1840s and 1850s.
The party benefited greatly from the turmoil of American politics in
the years leading up to the American Civil War (1861–65). For decades,
politics had been dominated by two national political parties—the Whig
Party and the Democratic Party. The Democrats had always welcomed
immigrants, but Whig voters in the North had always feared religious
and ethnic minorities. By 1852, sectional factions within the Whig Party
caused it to weaken. Many former Whigs joined the Know-Nothings,
whose members vowed to end the immigrant tide. The growth of the
party was quick. Along with nativists and former Whigs, many conservatives turned to the Know-Nothings because they were uncomfortable
with both proslavery Democrats and antislavery Republicans.
By 1855, the American Party held forty-three seats in the House of
Representatives. It had elected governors in Kentucky, Maryland,
Delaware, and four New England states. It had gained control of the Massachusetts legislature and elected a Know-Nothing mayor in
Philadelphia.
In 1854, the Know-Nothings nominated ex-president Millard
Fillmore (1800–1874; served 1850–53) as their presidential candidate.
In the November election, he carried only one state—Maryland. The nation was absorbed in the issues of slavery that were dividing the North
and South. The Know-Nothings lost support for never having established a clear stand on slavery. After 1856, the party disappeared.