The Know-Nothing Party

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The Know-Nothing Party, also known as the American Party, was a political party in the 1850s. It was known for “its strident anti-Catholicism and for its anti-immigration positions.” In 1854, the political party took over the governor’s office, the state senate and the house of representatives of Massachusetts. Nativists, or those who were opposed of slavery, felt as though immigrants were taking away their jobs and hindering America’s progression. There were many legislations passed by the Know-Nothing Party so that immigrants would have a difficult experience in America. Such legislations were aimed at restricting the strength of the growing German and Irish immigrant communities. Although it was not passed due to the requirement of the …show more content…
The potato was one of the Irish food staples and it was a large part of the Irish cuisine during this time. However, in 1845 a strain of Phytophthora, or a fungus like organism, arrived from North America and rotted the potato crop. This was the reason why was a rise in immigrants from Ireland in the mid 1800s. Since the Americans at the time were mostly followers of the Protestant religion, the rise in Catholic Irish immigrants angered them. The Irish faced discrimination, both because of their religion and race. To deal with the discrimination and hate, the Irish turned to drinking to help cope. “Faced with an openly hostile environment, and both unable and unwilling to Americanize, the immigrants seized upon drinking as a major symbol of ethnic loyalty. That is they drank hard to assert their Irishness.” Drinking also allowed the Irish to bond with other Irish men. The Irish had a much higher drinking rate than others, giving them the stereotype that all of them were drunks. “In 1852, of the 300,000 immigrants who landed at this port, 118,000 were Germans. It is estimated that 100,000 more landed at the other ports of this country, making the German immigration for the last year equal to the population of the State of Texas.” Germans were another large immigrant group and like the Irish, drinking was a large part of their culture. A large number of them emigrated from Germany because of overpopulation, crop failure and because they wanted democratic freedoms.“But unlike the Irish, the Germans did not gain reputations as drunkards.” Germans were not stereotyped to be drunks because they usually drank beer instead of whiskey, which was seen to be more respectable. Due to the lack of jobs due to racial and religious discrimination, German immigrants created their own brewery businesses and saloons. The rise in saloons promoted drinking in America. As the
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