Nativism and Slavery - The Northern Know Nothings, and the Politics of the 1850s (Hardcover)

Although the United States has always portrayed itself as a sanctuary for the world's victim's of poverty and oppression, anti-immigrant movements have enjoyed remarkable success throughout American history. None attained greater prominence than the Order of the Star Spangled Banner, a fraternal order referred to most commonly as the Know Nothing party. Vowing to reduce the political influence of immigrants and Catholics, the Know Nothings burst onto the American political scene in 1854, and by the end of the following year they had elected eight governors, more than one hundred congressmen, and thousands of other local officials including the mayors of Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Chicago. After their initial successes, the Know Nothings attempted to increase their appeal by converting their network of lodges into a conventional political organization, which they christened the "American Party". Recently, historians have pointed to the Know Nothings' success as evidence that ethnic and religious issues mattered more to nineteenth-century voters than better-known national issues such as slavery. In this important book, however, Anbinder argues that the Know Nothings' phenomenal success was inextricably linked to the firm stance their northern members took against the extension of slavery. Most Know Nothings, he asserts, saw slavery and Catholicism as interconnected evils that should be fought in tandem. Although the Know Nothings certainly were bigots, their party provided an early outlet for the anti-slavery sentiment that eventually led to the Civil War. Anbinder's study presents the first comprehensive history of America's most successful anti-immigrant movement, as wellas a major reinterpretation of the political crisis that led to the Civil War.

General

Imprint:	Oxford UniversityPress
Country of origin:	United States
Release date:	February 1993
First published:	October 1992
Authors:	Tyler Anbinder (Assistant Professor of History)
Dimensions:	243 x 159 x 25mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Hardcover - Cloth over boards
Pages:	346
ISBN-13:	978-0-19-507233-4
Categories:	Books > Humanities > History > History of specific subjects > Social & cultural history Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political parties > General Books > History > History of specific subjects > Social & cultural history
LSN:	0-19-507233-2
Barcode:	9780195072334

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