Period 5 Antibellum Period 1848-1877

Nativism and the Know Nothing Party

Nativism was the idea that people native to a country are more
important than those that immigrated there. This idea always
existed, but it was the most present in the U.S. during the
1800s.
As immigration from Europe increased in the early 1800s,
citizens who had been born in the United States began to feel
resentment at the new arrivals. Those opposed to immigrants
became known as
nativists.
From:
history1800s.about.com

The Know
Nothing Party,
also known as the
American Party,
was a political
party in the U.S.
that operated in
the 1850s. They
strongly believed
in nativism and
disliked Roman
Catholic immigrants. They did well in local elections but
Millard Fillmore tried running for Know-Nothing president in
the election of 1856 in which he did terrible and the party
ultimately ended up breaking up.
The Know-Nothing Party emerged in the late 1840s as a reaction to
immigration to America. After some success in local elections with
campaigns rife with bigotry, former president Millard Fillmore ran as
the Know-Nothing candidate for president in 1856. Fillmore's
campaign was a disaster and the party soon dissolved.
From: history1800s.about.com