History of the United States I / Unit 14 USH1 1995 short lesson, about 20 seconds
The Know-Nothings
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The idea
The American Party, formerly secret, was called the Know-Nothings because members denied knowing anything about it, and by eighteen fifty-six it was a national force.
In practice
Opposition to further immigration, especially by Irish Catholics held to have divided papal loyalty.
Where people slip
It also opposed Chinese labourers, considered too foreign for White American assimilation. The anchor gives this movement qualitatively and offers no figures.
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