The American Party (1849-1860), formerly known as the Supreme Order of the Star-Spangled Banner, better known as the Know-Nothing Party, saw Irish Catholic immigrants as a grave threat to the US – like how Donald Trump sees Mexicans and Muslims. They were nativists.
Catholics were a threat to American values. They:
- Did not practise or value democracy in their home countries.
- Were loyal to the pope.
- Drank liquor.
- Partied on the Sabbath.
- Had sex all the time, especially in churches and convents.
- Held nuns in convents against their will.
These views were informed in part by Maria Monk, who wrote the best-selling book of 1835: “Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk: The Hidden Secrets of a Nun’s Life in a Convent Exposed”. All made up.
Also in 1835 Samuel F. B. Morse, he of the Morse code, warned that Catholic kings and Jesuits were sending:
“shiploads of Roman Catholic emigrants, and for the sole purpose of converting us to the religion of Popery.”
Lyman Beecher, whose daughter would later write “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, gave anti-Catholic sermons which led to a wave of church burnings in New England and the Midwest.
In 1844 an anti-Catholic riot in Philadelphia went on for three days, burning down churches and houses, killing 13.
Then in 1845 the Irish Potato Famine hit.
Over a million Irish immigrants fled to the US. Most had no money, no education. Nearly all were Catholic.
The Irish were seen as bringing crime, taking jobs and lowering wages. They were stereotyped as poor, lazy, drunk and violent. Ralph Waldo Emerson did not even think they were Caucasian, seeing them as little better than American Indians, Africans or the Chinese.
Out of all this came the Know-Nothings. In Washington and Baltimore they beat up voters who opposed them. In Cincinnati they tried to lynch a papal envoy. In Louisville a priest reported that election violence led to:
“a reign of terror surpassed only by the Philadelphia riots. Nearly one hundred poor Irish have been butchered or burned and some twenty houses have been consumed in the flames.”
Elections: In the early to middle 1850s Know-Nothings became governors of New York, Massachusetts and several other states. They became mayors of Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago. They won dozens of seats in Congress. They gained control of the House of Representatives by joining forces with another new party: the Republicans. In 1856 their man for president, Millard Fillmore, won a fifth of the vote.
Abe Lincoln:
“As a nation we began by declaring that ‘all men are created equal.’ We now practically read it: ‘all men are created equal, except negroes.‘ When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read ‘all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and catholics.'”
Policies: liquor laws, convent inspections, anti-corruption measures, barring the foreign-born from voting or taking office, a wait period of 21 years to become a naturalized citizen, etc. But once in power they were quickly torn apart by disagreements over slavery.
A generation later the Irish were seeking to ban the Chinese.
– Abagond, 2016.
Source: mainly “The History of White People” (2010) by Nell Irvin Painter.
See also:
- nativism through the centuries
- Irish Americans
- English Americans
- Republican
- Caucasian
- Catholic
- Anglo-Protestant culture
- The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
537
Thanks for this post Abagond I wasn’t aware of their history.
Interesting that they saw themselves as the real Native Americans and being WASP became a thing.
Trump and the NRA both tap into this nativist undertow. Fox news magnified a zenophobic, nativist message and helped create Trump’s audience. I saw a NRA politicale ad last night that was all about God, country and the right to defend against “Islamic terrorism”.
It’s also the perfect politicale cycle for third parties like the Greens and the Libertarians. CNN has Johnson polling at 9% and Stien polling at 7%. That is 16% of the public wanting to vote outside the two party system and that is unprecedented. Last election cycle at this time those parties bairly registered in the polls.
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@LoM:
I think one major factor in the collapse of Know-Nothingism was the service of Irish in the Union Army during the Civil War. After Bull Run, the Seven Days, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg – but especially Fredericksburg – it became hard to say with a straight face that the Irish Catholic community constituted a disloyal fifth column.
No As you can see in the text, the party already dissolved in 1860. As from what I’ve heard, their problem was a lack of skilled politicians, combined with their main issue getting out of fashion.
Moreover, when Kennedy became president, there were still fears of JFK being the Pope’s puppet. But I guess you knew that already.
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Interesting that the Irish were simultaneously seen as “taking jobs” and lazy..quite the paradox
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@LoM
Thanks.
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“Native Americans beware of foreign influence”.
Yeah, those Pilgrims want more than just Thanksgiving dinner.
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@ Paige
LOL!
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“Interesting that the Irish were simultaneously seen as “taking jobs” and lazy..quite the paradox”
.
Not really a paradox… many probably took plush jobs that they could be lazy/easy at. You know like, *doormen* – *bouncers* – *cops* – *reporters* – *census takers* – *politicians* – *rioters*…
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@LoM
Not racist, factual.
Exhibit A: The New York City Draft Riots in 1863. From History.com:
http://www.history.com/news/four-days-of-fire-the-new-york-city-draft-riots
White privilege in action, circa 1863.
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@Lord of Mirkwood
I will read the link later, but please tell me that this is not the account of one man that you will turn into most Irish.
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Hey Mirkwood,
I see that you’re still confusing the word “many” with “all.”
It’s a shame that they allow you to shape and fashion young minds in your local programming center. (Either get some glasses or learn how to read!)
Shame, shame, shame ..
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Lord of Mirkwood
What fallacy are you even talking about? You have a poor habit of presenting article that speak on account of one Irish man and then turning that into “most Irish believe, do, etc.”
That is not what you are pointing out. You stated ” Many, if not most, Irish Catholics opposed the mob’s actions” in response to Fan… and Afrofem’See response to Irish rioters. You then presented a link, as is typical of you. I simply inquired to see if this was your usual antics.
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How nice it is to see someone recount a little bit of our history.
Keep this type of information flowing.
We should remember that there are always radicals.
Each of us must constantly beware that we do not step across the line.
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What a despicable group of fascists.
Who the Irishmen?
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John Wilkes Booth was a Know Nothing Party member.
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@LoM
I don’t see the Irish in America as separate or significantly different from any other European immigrant group.
Taking the information in your rebuttal/clarification at face value, my primary point is that some Irish immigrants did participate in the violence in the 1863 Draft Riots. Yet when the time for legal accountability rolled around, they and their fellow White citizens faced no “significant sentences”. This is after murder, arson, beatings and all manner of mayhem.
As an integral part of the “White” group in America, people of Irish descent have participated in many riots, the 1863 Draft Riots being just one example.
I have no doubt that some people of Irish descent also rioted in the:
◆East St. Louis Race Riot: July 2, 1917
http://www.blackpast.org/aah/east-st-louis-race-riot-july-2-1917
◆The Chicago riots of 1919
http://www.blackpast.org/aah/chicago-race-riot-1919
◆The Tulsa Riot of 1921
http://www.tulsaworld.com/app/race-riot/timeline.html
So, to me, Fan’s designation of Irish Americans as “rioters” may sting, but is easily backed up by historical facts.
In all of those large scale pogroms as well as smaller incidents, there were no significant consequences for any European descent rioters….and there still aren’t.
Not much has changed.
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This is an enlightening post especially regarding the bigotry toward Roman Catholics. It reminds me of the Islamaphobia that is in full effect in America.
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@LoM
“Every ethnic group in America, European or otherwise, has its own unique story, and to insist otherwise is dehumanizing.”
A spirited argument——and one that veers away from the reality of essential White/Pan European solidarity against those affected by White Supremacy.
Your initial contention that Fan’s description of Irish descent people as rioters was “racist” did not hold up to barely researched historical facts.
Moreover, it was Irish immigrants themselves that sought “Whiteness” for the privileges it conferred on their group. With privilege comes responsibility. As a part of the “White” polity, Irish descent Americans have participated in actions that were defined as riots. Many of those riots were against people who were not White, then or now.
Attempting to wriggle out of that history with “we’ve had it bad too” arguments doesn’t change historical fact.
P.S. Thanks for the link to the longislandwins.com article. It was quite detailed.
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“but I cannot agree that they (we) are no different than any other European ethnicity, nor that they (we) can be designated as rioters writ large. By this argument, all black people become murdering barbarians for the massacre in Haiti in 1804 (obviously a logical fallacy), or for Nat Turner’s rebellion, or for the L.A. ”
@Mirkwood
There’s that “all” word again that you like to place next to the word Black! No one here said or implied *all* Irish anything. I’m beginning to see a pattern here (again).
It tends to show up here – when you do.
If you persist in using “all black people become…” don’t cry foul if someone says, all irish become/are … whatever.
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“The part of Fan’s description to which I object is applying these facts to Irish American’s en masse.”
Mirkwood,
I see you’re still playing with men made of straw.
Stop trying to be as sly and deceitful as another disingenuous commenter frequenting the comments here! It’s very unbecoming. Even for an irishman.
I can’t believe they let you become a teacher if you cannot parse the difference between “many” and “en masse.” These words are not interchangeable because they have different meanings.
Just glad you’re not teaching my offspring!
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@Lord of Mirkwood
How does that prove your case exactly?
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@LoM
I want to clarify two points:
To me, there are two groups of Irish descendants in this country. There are ethnic Irish and White people with full or partial Irish ancestry. The ethnic Irish are mostly found in pockets of some Northeastern and Midwestern cities like New York, Boston or Chicago. They build their lives, neighborhoods and identities around their Irish heritage.
Far more numerous are White people with full or partial Irish ancestry. Many have blended (intermarried) with other European groups and and have become simply Americans of European descent. Some are not even Catholic anymore.
They are the group I was referring to when I wrote, “I don’t see the Irish in America as separate or significantly different from any other European immigrant group.” Many in this group don’t think of themselves as Irish-Americans. They are the types that celebrate St. Patrick’s day by throwing on a green sweater or shirt and telling everyone at work that their grandmother was Irish.
✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥
Pan European solidarity refers to the ways in which Whites of all backgrounds present a united front against other American groups that are not designated White. There may not be a great deal of internal solidarity, but there are a range of behaviors that White Americans engage in that go beyond mere solidarity to what Professor Derrick Bell called White Racial Nepotism.
In the book, Faces at the Bottom of the Well, Professor Bell defines White Racial Nepotism as the ways in which White people,
White people are human and engage in lots of internal group squabbles. However, the squabblers often act in unison against people outside of the White group.
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@ Lord of Mirkwood
No one said or implied “all” or “most”. YOU added that. It is your straw man argument.
What Fan said was:
This no more means “most” or “all” were rioters than that all or most were, say, politicians.
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“Now when he says “Stop trying to be as sly and deceitful…It’s very unbecoming. Even for an [I]rishman.” Indicating that deceitfulness is some inherent characteristic in the Irish.
.
Mirkwood, you disingenuous cad. You like to REACH far, but I’m still here to pull your lying azz back into reality! The indication was about you. YOU are sly and deceitful!
If I thought that all irish people were sly and deceitful, I would have plainly said so. If I thought that all irish people were rioters, I would have plainly stated that. Just because you want to believe or imagine I said such things doesn’t mean that I ever said those things. Stop drinking that kool-aid. It’s making you look pathetic and stupid.
Even a four year old would have understood what I said
But then little children tend to be more honest than lying adults with fallacious machinations and imaginations.
Do remember that we’re not on your blog, Mirkwood. We’re on a grown-up blog where the commenters here will thrash your false statements and accusations.
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@ Lord of Mirkwood
That “otherwise” implies that bigotry and anti-slavery did not naturally go together. But for many it did: they were anti-Catholic bigots for the same reason they opposed slavery: their Protestant faith.
As it turned out Know-Nothingism was not naturally anti-slavery or pro-slavery – which is what tore it apart. Had the Irish Potato Famine taken place AFTER the Civil War, it would have been way worse for Irish Americans.
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“Top o’ the mornin!” Murky, I was perfectly happy to lurk in this debate until you saw fit to malign my ancestors. “By this argument, all black people become murdering barbarians for the massacre in Haiti in 1804 (obviously a logical fallacy), or for Nat Turner’s rebellion, or for the L.A. race riots of 1991.”
It escaped your eagle eye that the cowardly and barbaric Irish mob that murdered blacks in New York, were, in no way, threatened by them. The same cannot be said of the French in Haiti, circa 1804. After they were defeated at Vertières, Dessalines allowed them to decamp. Instead of packing their bags and leaving the entire island, some of them decided they would continue to occupy the eastern part, present day Dominican Republic, under the command of general Jean-Louis Ferrand. He and his men restored slavery there, it had been abolished by Toussaint Louverture in 1801, and even kidnapped Haitian citizens to enslave them.
Dessalines wouldn’t stand for this nonsense, he came down on whites like Mr. Peter Chazotte and his friends, who were setting up arms caches for the day when a white army would liberate them, like the wrath of god. He utterly decimated them. By the time he was done with them, they could only piteously whimper like whipped dogs.
Whites who cast their lot with the new nation were given full rights as citizens and made “black”! Mr. Pierre Nicolas Mallet a/k/a Mallet the good white, was given the honor to sign Haiti’s act of independence! His great great grandson, the Haitian sculptor, Albert MAngonès, is the creator of that iconic sculpture called the Unknown Maroon, maliciously referred to as the Unknown Slave. So much for Dessalines’s “barbarism”! As for Ferrand and his army, he destroyed it in battle. They ran to Santo Domingo where they awaited their doom. Unfortunately, it didn’t come because Dessalines mistook a tiny French naval force for the vanguard of an armada like the one Napoleon sent in 1802 to re-enslave the free people of St-Domingue. He broke the siege of Santo Domingo to organize the defense against the anticipated re-invasion of the island. Before returning to the western side, present day Haiti, He destroyed an army led by a French planter, named Viet, notorious for his cruelty as a slavemaster. Naturally, he executed the bastard and carried a scorched earth policy by destroying anything that would be of use to an invading army.
So, you see, Murky, your Irish thugs are in no way comparable to Dessalines’s just punishment of fifth columnists.
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“I’d prefer to continue my debate with Afrofem, who at least uses sound reason and is open to understanding viewpoints different from her own”—-A stark difference from you.
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Murky, spare me your hypocrisy. Your Irish thugs attacked unarmed men, women and children. Dessalines came down on people who were contemplating genocide and re-enslavement. they succeeded in Guadeloupe, but reaped the whirlwind in Haiti. No self-respecting black person has anything to apologize for in this rare instance when whites got exactly what they deserved. Being a racist hypocrite you disagree. So what. Blacks didn’t send an army to France to deprive the French of their freedom, it was the other way around. Your racism makes you oblivious to that fact.
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“Interesting that the Irish were simultaneously seen as “taking jobs” and lazy..quite the paradox”
Interestingly, the same paradoxical stereotypes are now being applied to immigrants from Latin America.
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I am proud that my great-great grandfather belonged to this wonderful group, one of the few political parties to put the best interests of Americans before the foreigner scum.
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*Lord of Jerkwood – How dare you insult this wonderful organization. You called them “What a despicable group of fascists.” You insult my family, do you know that, you little Papist?
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^ROFL…When drinking goes bad.
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@Sharina
Yes, Bobby M is on a bender right now. A Trump rally and a bottle of rot gut liquor brings BM here to talk smack.
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Lord of Mirkwood
When are we as Americans going to stop assigning the term MAN to boys?
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@Sharina
LOL! So true.
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Lord of Jerkwood – How dare you insult this wonderful organization. You called them “What a despicable group of fascists.” You insult my family, do you know that, you little Papist?
They must have had a sale on liquor at the corner store!
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Ship me to the Bahamas for a month, forget Bobby though!
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