Make America Know Nothing Again

In the eighteen forties and fifties there was a surge of immigration to America from Ireland and southern Germany. The immigrants were mostly Catholics.

At that time Americans were overwhelmingly Protestant, with English, Scottish, and to a lesser extent Dutch and ‘Scots Irish’ roots. What did they make of the new developments?

Well, some of them thought it was a Popish plot to take over America. To counter this they wanted immigration drastically cut and immigrants barred from voting. They were popularly called the Know Nothings, because they were a semi-secret society and if one of them was asked what their plans were he was supposed to say “I know nothing”.

They had some political success at local and state level, but they never got to elect a president. However, one of them - himself a second-generation immigrant but the right sort - did manage to assassinate a president. It has recently been revealed (by another president) that the victim was a Republican.

MAKNA!
 
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