American Protestants Essay

Submitted By megcharity
Words: 1032
Pages: 5
Open Document
10 April 2013
AMERICAN PROTESTANTS AND IRISH CATHOLICS
In the 1840’s there was a great famine in Ireland. Fleeing from the devastation many Irish families started their mass evacuation of Ireland and began to arrive in great numbers in the port cities of America from the North East of Boston and Philadelphia to the Southern ports of Savannah and New Orleans. During this period Boston had the highest concentration of Irish immigrants.
It has got to be remembered that Boston was the home of some of the elite of American families. Many of them direct descendants of the original on the Mayflower in the 1600’s. And most likely would be children or grandchildren of those who signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776. It would be with certainty that they would have been well aware that their ancestors had escaped from the manipulate tyranny of the Roman Catholic Church.
Soon after the massive influx of Irish into Boston, these long established families moved to the North of Boston to try and keep distance between themselves and what they considered illiterate, drunken and scraggly immigrants.
But mainly the Irish were ostracized for being Catholic. The high influx of new settlers made religious differences between Catholics and Protestants a political issue. Violence often erupted at the polls. Protestants claimed that Pope Pius1X had put down the failed liberal revolutions of 1848 and that he was an opponent of liberty, democracy and replublicanism.
Immigration during the first five years of the 1850’s reached a level five times greater than the previous decade. Most of the new arrivals were poor catholic peasants or labourers from Ireland who crowded the cities living in squalor. Cincinnati’s crime rate for example tripled between 1846 and 1853 and its murder rate increased sevenfold.
In the 19th century a political party with the official name of the American Party was formed. Its roots were from secret societies opposed to immigrants coming into America. From this secret background became the popular nickname of the Know-Nothings. This group also known as Nativists whole aim was to make their resentment against immigrants known and to thwart the rights of catholic immigrants from becoming citizens.
Violent encounters between the Nativists and immigrants was commonplace. In July 1844 riots broke out in Philadelphia with a recorded 20 deaths and the burning of Catholic churches and a school.
There were several political parties supporting a Nativist doctrine at the time among them the American Republican Party , the Order of United Americans and the Order of the Star Spangled Banner. Their members were sworn to keep immigrants out of America, or at the least to keep them isolated from mainstream society when they arrived.
The Know-Nothings and their anti immigrant and anti Irish standpoint became very popular at the time. But on the other hand some Americans were against everything that the Know-Nothings stood for. Abraham Lincoln expressed his disgust at the Know-Nothings in a letter in 1855. He said that if the Know-Nothings ever came to power, the Declaration of Independence would have to be amended to say that all men are created equal “except negroes, and foreigners and Catholics.”
The bottom line was that the party was taking a strong stand agains immigration and immigrants. Know-Nothing candidates had to be born in the United States. And there was aggressive all out attempt to change the laws so that only immigrants who had lived in the US for 25 years could become citizens. Obviously such a lengthy residency requirement would mean that the recent arrivals, especially the Irish Catholics would not be able to vote, keeping them isolated and powerless.
Apart from the legal thrust to increase the residency requirement to 25 years, there were also severe ongoing acts of violence. Fears that the Catholics were flooding the polls with non-citizens, the local activists made it clear that they were going
Show More

Related Documents: American Protestants Essay

Religion: Protestant Reformation and Native Americans Essay

and settlers could practice their current faith, a high priority of Spain was the conversion of the Native Americans to Christianity. The Spanish needed to have the natives trust them, if they were ever to find the vats of gold that they believed the land contained. To make themselves more affable, the explorers introduced the Native Americans to monotheism. They needed the Native Americans to give up some of the land that could possibly contain the valuable resource, so they traded property for…

Words 1167 - Pages 5

Manifest Destiny: White, Protestant Americans In The 19th Century

white, Protestant Americans in the mid-nineteenth century define progress, and who or what got left out of that definition? Why did they believe their version of "progress" was divinely ordained? In the 19th century, Manifest Destiny was a belief or attitude that the United States was divinely destined to expand and settle across North America and to impart Protestant beliefs and ideas. Manifest Destiny was not an official political policy, but a concept that was embraced by many Americans as they…

Words 553 - Pages 3

Catholic Immigrants In The 19th Century

members of the faith such as bishops and priests. Throughout early American history, Catholics endured prejudice and persecution due to the large majority of Protestants in the country. Protestants felt threatened by the new Catholic immigrants and as a result they discriminated against them. The Catholic immigrants, particularly the clergy, searched to find a way to convince their Protestant peers that they were legitimate Americans. Some believe that the immigrants fought because they were forced…

Words 1079 - Pages 5

Second Great Awakening Research Paper

a continuation of the American colonies cleaned religious revival led by the evangelical Protestant minister. The Great Awakening was triggered by a tour of the English evangelical minister named George Whitefield. The First Great Awakening began in 1725 and continued up to 1750. The Second Great Awakening begins in the early 1800s. The Great Awakening was a religious revival in the 1700s and it was the message by the reduced role to play in the daily lives of the American colonies. Set in motion…

Words 614 - Pages 3

How Did John Calvin Influence The Protestant Movement

The Protestant movement was as successful as it was due to the theologian, John Calvin. This movement changed the lives of many people, and the world’s view on religion. John Calvin was the most influential of all religious leaders in sixteenth century Europe during the Reformation. John Calvin’s early years influenced what he did in his later years. John Calvin was born on July 10, 1509 in Noyon, France and died on May 27, 1564 in Geneva, Switzerland. Calvin was the son of Gerard Calvin, a notary…

Words 704 - Pages 3

Ku Klux Klan Analysis

their ideology, it can be argued he presents himself as a spokesperson for the Klan and explaining their ideas. His point of view is very much similar to that of the Klan in the views that white protestants are the superior race in the world with no other race comparing. His view is that white protestants are the supreme race. Evans wrote this article in 1926 in America, this time was seen as highly important in America in regards to the development of racial views, mainly because of the fuss that…

Words 946 - Pages 4

Protestant Alienation: Fulfilling Errors Of The Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation is where people began noticing errors within the Catholic beliefs and began to separate from the Catholic Church and start their own church organization. The Protestant Revolution lead to the elimination of monasteries in the new Protestant religions. Furthermore, women were inspired to read and learn the Bible for themselves by Protestants. “For some women the Protestant Reformation opened up an increased possibility for exercising both a spiritual and social influence…

Words 220 - Pages 1

Who Are We Huntington Summary

When describing the American identity, Huntington, author of Who Are We? The Challenges to America’s National Identity, challenges the notion that “America is a nation of immigrants.” He argues that that the British settlers came to establish a new society and in doing so created the foundation of American culture. Everyone who followed the settlers were immigrants but they adopted the Protestant culture that the British had created. In 1960 Huntington argued that American identify had begun to erode…

Words 583 - Pages 3

SOC 311 Outline 2 Essay example

Cydney Wardlaw SOC 306 4/29/2015 Outline for The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism I. The Capitalist Spirit A. Through modern capitalism, Weber suggests certain ethic grew linking moral righteousness with making money. B. Every person is born into sin and faces the possibility of being enslaved by sin C. Jesus, the only son of God, sacrifices himself to allow for the atonement of sin and the possibility of being granted everlasting life in heaven. D. Everlasting life…

Words 597 - Pages 3

Essay on Formation of the U.S.

be accomplished we need to recognize the origins of the superiority views that are a part of the present American culture. In an effort to trace the roots of the superior views that are part our macroculture, the follow exposition examines the Puritan settlers of the New World, the waves of European immigration to America in the 1800s, and the structure of the American city. The Protestant ethic of the New World and the United States has influenced the macroculture that mandates the nation’s present…

Words 3360 - Pages 14