"ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL EXCEPT..."

KNOW NOTHINGS CONVENE IN PHILADELPHIA

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (JFK+50) On February 18, 1856, delegates of the American Party*, a.k.a. "Know Nothings," met here in Philadelphia to nominate their first candidate for President of the United States.

The party, known as the Native American Party before 1855, was the first major third party in the American political system.

The Know Nothings wanted to stop immigrants and Catholics from being elected to political office and from getting jobs that, in their view, should be held by "true Americans."

The American Party elected a hundred candidates to Congress and to eight governorships.

According to Lorraine Boissoneault, the Know Nothings favored deportation of criminals, a 21 year waiting period for naturalization of immigrants, and regular Bible readings in schools.

Their vision of America included "temperance, Protestantism, self reliance with American nationality and work ethic enshrined as the nation's highest values."

The American Party, made up of former Whigs, discontented Democrats and other political outsiders, believed in a Roman Catholic conspiracy to subvert civil and religious liberty in the United States.

Although never publicly denouncing the American Party due to political concerns, Abraham Lincoln wrote privately...

"I am not a Kn0w-Nothing - that is certain.  How could I be?  When (they) get control (the Declaration of Independence) will read 'all men are created equal except negroes and foreigners and catholics.'" 

*American Party (1844-1860) was known as the Native American Party before 1855.  Its members were called "Know Nothings" because, as the story goes, when asked a question by an 'outsider.' the answer would always be 'I know nothing.'  The political organization was originally  a secret society.

SOURCE

"How the 19th Century Know Nothing Party Reshaped American Politics," by Lorraine Boissoneault, January 26, 2017, www.smithsonianmagazine.com/  

   

 

Know Nothing Ticket (1855)

www.ohiohistorycentral.org/

 

RISE AND FALL OF THE KNOW-NOTHINGS

"ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL EXCEPT NEGROES...FOREIGNERS AND CATHOLICS"

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (JFK+50) 159 years ago today, February 18, 1856, delegates of the American Party, a.k.a. the "Know-Nothings",  gathered here in Philadelphia to nominate their first candidate for President of the United States.*

The Know-Nothings, made up of Protestant males, offered to purify America by limiting or even ending the influences of newly-arrived immigrants.  The unprecedented immigrant migration from 1830 to 1860 contributed to the "nativist" movement.

Citizen Know-Nothing

Uncle Sam's Youngest Son

By Sarony & Co., Lithographers

Library of Congress (1854)

The fear of Catholic immigrants also led to a backlash against the Democratic Party which attracted many of them to their fold.

By 1854, the Know-Nothings swept the state of Massachusetts and elected one of their own as Mayor here in Philadelphia.  Robert T. Conrad promised to crack down on crime and appoint only nativists to office. He also promised to close the saloons.

Membership in the American Party, as it came to be called, increased from 50,000 to 1 million. By December 1855, 43 Members of Congress classified themselves as Know-Nothings.

On February 15, 1856, the American Party nominated former United States President Millard Fillmore as their presidential standard-bearer and Andrew Jackson Donelson of Tennessee as his running-mate. 

The Know-Nothings' fall, however,  proved to be just as fast as their rise.  In today's post on Real Clear Politics, Carl M. Cannon writes...

"The seeds for the Know-Nothing's demise were planted at their own convention (when) a wing of Southerners moved to pass a platform plank calling for the preservation of slavery."

This led to the bolting of Northern and Midwestern Know-Nothings to the Republican Party and the subsequent demise of the American Party.

Abraham Lincoln had written in a letter dated August 24, 1855...

"When the Know-Nothings get control, (the Declaration of Independence) will read 'all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners and catholics.'"

Know-Nothing Banner of 1856

"I know nothing but my Country,

 my whole Country, and nothing

 but my Country."

In the Election of 1856, Democrat James Buchanan won (174) defeating Republican John C. Fremont (114) and Millard Fillmore (8).  The Know-Nothings won 21.5% of the vote and only carried one state, Maryland.

*Note:  In the Election of 1852, the Native American Party had nominated Daniel Webster of Massachusetts as their presidential candidate as had the Union Party, an off-shoot of the Whig Party.

SOURCE

"Immigration and the Rise and Fall of the Know-Nothing Party," by Carl M. Cannon, Real Clear Politics, February 18, 2015, www.realclearpolitics.com/