In the 1840s, large numbers of immigrants came to America; many Irishmen settled on the eastern seaboard and Germans moved out to Midwest farmlands. Numerous newcomers were Roman Catholics. The majority became associated with the Democratic Party.
Opposition developed quickly. Eastern factory workers feared job losses to immigrants who were often willing to work for very low wages. Others feared the newcomers simply because they were different – in looks, language, customs and religion.
These fears led to the growth of "nativism," a belief that only native-born or long-established citizens should have a voice in public affairs.
The Irish famine greatly increased immigration from that country between 1845 and 1850, and correspondingly raised the fears, often irrational, of the existing population.
By the late 1840s, secret anti-immigrant organizations began to form in a number of states. They used different names, but collectively they were referred to as the “Know-Nothings." This moniker, first employed by the New York
Tribune on November 16, 1853, arose from the members’ reluctance to talk about their organizations: When asked about their activities they would often say, “I know nothing." One of the most famous of these groups was the Order of the Star Spangled Banner in New York State; others used similarly high-sounding names.
New York (1844) and Boston (1845) elected nativist mayors and the 29th Congress include four nativist members, four from New York and two from Pennsylvania. A national convention was held in 1845 under the banner of the "Native American Party." Modern students will find this name curious, since it consisted entirely of whites of European descent, precisely the group now excluded by the term "Native American." Neither then nor now is the term used to include everyone who is a native American.
In 1854, an effort was made to expand the movement through the formation of the American Party. The organization advocated a 25-year residency requirement for citizenship and the limitation of public office to native-born Americans. Members actually went farther and promised to support only Protestants.
State houses throughout the country were captured by the Know-Nothings and governors were elected in Massachusetts and Delaware. The Know-Nothings victory in Massachusetts was nothing short of sensational, including the governor, all members of Congress and all but three members of the Massachusetts legislature. However, the arrest of Anthony Burns under the
Fugitive Slave Act provided the incoming governor, Henry Gardner, a controversy he could not avoid. The judge who sent Burns back into slavery was Edward G. Loring of Suffolk County. Twice Bills of Address were sent to Gardner, urging him to remove Loring but he refused. It remained for his Republican successor to do the deed.
Slavery was to be the party's undoing. At their national convention in Philadelphia in 1855, the southern representatives pushed through a platform supporting slavery, anti-slavery elements led by Henry Wilson of Massachusetts, walked out. Although there were some electoral victories yet to come, the party's peak of influence had been reached.
