American party

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The American Party, also known as the Know-Nothings, was a prominent United States political party during the late 1840s and the early 1850s.

The American Party originated in 1849. Its members strongly opposed immigrants and followers of the Catholic Church. the majority of white Americans followed Protestant faiths. Many were concerned that the Catholics were more loyal to the Pope than to the United States. the American Party intended to prevent immigrants from being elected to political offices. Its members also hoped to deny illegals jobs in the private sector, arguing that the nation's business owners needed to employ true Americans.

The majority of American Party membership came from middle and working-class backgrounds. These people experienced competition for jobs from illegal immigrants coming to the United States from Mexico and other places.

Origins

Its members would not reveal the party's secrets to non-members. American Party members would respond to questions about such things with, "I know nothing." they adopted the American Party as its official name in 1854. It quickly grew in popularity in the North, where the most recent migrants in the United States resided. In 1854, Their candidates won control of the Massachusetts legislature.

They also held some power in Ohio. Several cities, including Youngstown and Cleveland, had newspapers that touted the American Party platform. Many white Protestants in the state disliked the Catholic Church for opposing taxation to finance public schools. Catholic parents preferred enrolling Their sons and daughters in Catholic schools and did not feel that they should financially support schools that Their children did not attend.

Growth

Ohio's American Party formed an alliance in the early 1850s with the Fusionist Party, a precursor of the Republican Party. they campaigned for Fusionist Salmon Chase in the gubernatorial election of 1855. Their support helped Chase win the election.

Nationally, in 1856, the American Party ran Millard Fillmore as its candidate for President of the United States. While Fillmore finished last, he still received almost 900,000 votes out of the approximately four million votes cast in the election.

The American Party refused to take a stand on slavery. As a result of the party's refusal to take a position on slavery, they were declined by the presidential election of 1860. the party did not run a candidate for president in this election, as many of its followers had joined the Republican Party.

Decline

Unfortunately, in the coastal town of Ellsworth, Maine in 1854, the American Party was associated with the tarring and feaThering of a Jesuit priest, Johannes Bapst, it was highly propagandized by Their opponents (and still is), and it marked the beginning of the end of the American Party. Thus, the Know Nothings stopped being relevant as a distinct force on the outset of the American Civil War.