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University of Louisville ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository Electronic Theses and Dissertations 1936 The Know-Nothing party in Louisville. Carl R. Fields 1910-2000 University of Louisville Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/etd Part of the Public History Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Fields, Carl R. 1910-2000, "The Know-Nothing party in Louisville." (1936). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 1786. https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/1786 This Master's Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has retained all other copyrights. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Qniversity of Louisville The Know-»othing Party in Louisvi lIe ( " A Dissertation Submitted to the F~culty of the Gradu'lte School of the University of Louisvi 1le In Partia.l Fulfillment of the Requiremf':nts for the Degree of Master oft' Arts Department of History by C~rl R. Fields v I" Year r CHAPTER PAGE Introduct ion 1 The Know-'Iloth ing Pa.rty in the State and the Nation •••••••••••••• /- -,g.. The Beginning of the Know-Hothing Party in Louisville ............ 11 III. The Spring ~lection of 1855 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 31 , rJ) The Election of August 6, 1855 - "Bloody Monday" ••••••••••••••••• 3& V. The Know-Nothings and the Election of 1856 •••••••••••••••••••••• 71 VI. The Persistence of Know-Nothingism in Louisville • ••••••••••••••• 81 VII. The Know-Nothing Party :,ecomes the Opposition ••••••••••••••••••• 94 VIII. Conclusion •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 97 Bibliography i Introduct ion During the c'ourse of America.n history there have appeared at frequent intervals movements of oppo'sition to Catholics and foreigners. Sometimes these movements have emanated from urban centers, sometimes from rural communities; sometimes the movement has been merely o·f local interest and at other times the o'ppo'Sition to' Catholics and foreigners has reached such proportions as to be of major importance to the entire nation. One can understand that in the days of our infancy as a nation we were jealous of our newly won freedom which meant freedom from European religious intolerance and political oppression;: one cannot as easily understand why the nativist movement and the anti-Catholic movement have 80 persistently maintained their importance throughout our history. The vanous organizations against foreigners and Catholics are not separate movements. If one were to trace the history of such organizations one would find that the position the foreigner and the Catholic were to occupy in th~ United States has been an ever-present problem. This is one fact to be carefully noted because it lends s ignif:icance to the study of the nat ivist movement in any particular period. J: or a study a-f the causal factors in the rise CJ'f a nativist movement one must take into' account the entire history of' .... the United States. The fire of' nativist sentiment, ever-present, is sometimes in a smouldering state and is frequently rekindled by the events of' a relatively brief' period of time, say a deoade. These immediate causes are more apparent than the more fundamental ones and, therefore, their importance is sometimes exagrerated. Such a period' was the decade 1850-18\60, when perhaps the stronge~t anti-foreign, antii- ..... 2 Catholic movement played such a powerful role in Americ1ln politics. The nativist movement in the 1850"s helped to delay the con­ flict over slavery and served also to emphasize the importance of the tTniom. Most of the men in the United' States with nativist sympathies sine~rely believed that the great issues of slavery and states rights could' be avoided b;1 turning the attention of the people of the United States to a greater menace, foreign and Catholic influence. Whether or not some men were emphasizing the anti-foreign pro'blem fer personal gain_ I am not prepared to say;. yet it is doubtl"! true that the nativist movement offered more opportunity to B:) me individuals than either the issue of states rights, or slavery. 'lV'hUe the nativist movement helped to' po'stpone the slavery issue, its eventual failure showed the irrepressible n~ture of the slavery controversy. Every weapon a~ilable to political maohines as well as sincere, honest men, secrecy, incendlaris·m, intimidation, murder, and many others were used in a va in effort to turn peoples' minds from the burning issue of the hour, slavery; but inevitably the specter o,f the "African1t problem loomed up to inflame anew the passions of a ','lfilliam Lloyd Garrison or a Rebert Toombs and tSlke the place of tho "American" problem .. A brief background of nativist development in the 1850"s will set the stage for a discussion of the nativist growth and activities in Louisville, Kentucky, which was one of several southern cities where nativist feeling was verv strong. ,..... CliAPT1<:R I THE KNo"r-~10T~-INC P.~.l1TY IN TEE STAT!'.: MD Tn;;: NATIO:-J 3 CHAPTER I !!!! Know-Nothing Party in the State ~ ~ Nation Xn 18£0 there was organized in New YOTk City the "'Order of the Star-Spangled Banner"', a nativist group, which under its founder and leader, Charles B. Allen, was destined to' grOlW into) a national nativist political partty. (1:) For apprO'Jlimate1y forty- three years the nativist movement had attracted the attention of a few people, but for the most part the success of these earlier societies had been temporary. A't- the tli:ne of the organization of' the "Order of the Star-Spangled Banner'" the mo'St powerful nat ivist order in the East waf-1 the Order of' the United American MeO'hanios .. By 1852, however, many members of this order had joined the "Order of the Star-Bpang1ed Banner", which had a much better organ!. .. zation, and was beginning to' make an impression in 10O'al New York po lit iO'8'. "In default of a hetter name it (Order of Star-Spangled Banner) was d'uhbed' the "know-Ncrt.hing" order by an interested pU1b1 iO', ~nd under that name the Order of the Star-Spa.ngled Banner thenceforth pursued its career. The proper name af . the sO'ciety waf" that of the Supreme Order of the Star­ Spangled Banner." (2) The name "Know-Nothing" was given to the order because when the members of the order were questioned about thBir party, they in- variably replied, " Ii know nothing". A previous nativist party had called itself the "American Earty",. and after the secret maohinery of the Know-No-thing party had been discarded in 1856, the name "American party" was adopted. That was always the official name, and not the "Supreme Order of the Star-Spangled Banner". (3) (1) 80'i800', L. 0'., PO'litical Nativism in New York State, New Y01"kj Columbia university Press, 19'01, p. 66., (2) Thid., pp. 67, 80. (3) !'After the secret machinery was discarded, the party called itself the "American" party. However, it was always popularly 4 The American Party was a vast secret organization with ramh- fice.tion~ in many stlltes. Those desiring to' be members of the party must be twenty-one years of age, believe in God~ be born in the United States, have no Catholio relatiO'ns, and be reared under Protestant influencre. For a long time the Amerioan Party, as it was officially knO'w~ was very suocessful lin its effO'rts to' maintain secrecy as to its activities. Seoret knocks, secret conversations, secret pa8Rwords, secret meet i.ngs and announoements of meetings veiled the politics of the party and attracted many members. Many amusing observations were made ahout the party, O'ne writer piotuning the party meet ing in ghost ly, unhO'ly plaoes, members carrying dark lanterns, 9.nd all pledging terrible o'athe. The se01"eC'~r o'f this party gave them an influence in pO'litics because of the inability 0'£ the other parties to' cO'pe with them. The American party until: 1&.55 had nO' political platfO'rm and openly nO'minated nO" candidates. After much discussion, they agreed on the candidates of one o'f the other parties and cast the entire party vote for him. (4) It is not surprising that, most amazing results on election day o'Ccurecil. The party was organized much as our PO',Utlical organizations 'known as the "Know ... Nothf.ng' party • • The offio·ial name of the order and of the party was alwavs the American party and not the 'Supreme Order of the Star-Spangled Banner" as stated by James Ford RhO'des in his histO'ry • • • I have been assured by the reC'Ording secretary of the NatiO'nal Council and several O'f the surviving members O'f the party that it never had any other name O'fficially than the American party." --Schmeckebier, L. F., HistO'ry O'f the Know-NO'th ing Party in Maryland, John Hopkins Press, 1899. pp. 9-10. The twO' authorities quO'ted abO've differ on the O'fficial name of the Know-NO'thing Party. It is probable that after the party obtained natiO'nal importance', the name American Party was ao­ cepted as the official name. (4) Perrin, HistO'ry ~ KentuoiCy, p. 328, MyS, n •• at first their nominations were made from the o,ther political parties, and by their secret and united weight they wO'uld generally turn the scale as to' them meet." 5 are today.
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