Know-Nothing Party

The American Party, commonly known as the Know-Nothing Party, was an American nativist political party that operated in the mid-1850s. It was originally anti-Catholic,prejudiced against other nationalities, and against immigration. The movement was briefly a major political party in the form of the American Party. Followers of the movement were to reply "I know nothing" when asked about its specifics by outsiders, which gave the group its most common name.

The Know-Nothings believed a "Romanist" conspiracy was in progress in which the Catholic Church was trying to undermine the power and authority of civil and religious liberty in the United States. They wanted to organize native-born Protestants politically defend their traditional religious and political values. That theme is remembered because by Protestants feared that Catholic priests and bishops would control a large number of voters. In most places, the Know-Nothingis lasted only a year or two before weak local leaders, few publicly declared national leaders, and a deep split over the issue of slavery caused them to disintegrate. In the South, the party did not focus on anti-Catholicism but on being the main alternative to the dominant Democratic Party.

The collapse of the Whig Party after the Kansas–Nebraska Act passed left an opening for a new major party to oppose the Democrats. The Know-Nothings elected US Representatives Nathaniel P. Banks of Massachusetts and many others in the 1854 elections and created a new party, known as the American Party. Particularly in the South, the American Party served as an outlet for politicians who disagreed with the Democratic Party. Many also hoped that it would seek a middle ground between the pro-slavery positions of many Democratic politicians and the anti-slavery positions of the emerging Republican Party. The American Party nominated former President Millard Fillmore in the 1856 presidential election although he kept quiet about his membership. Fillmore received 21.5% of the popular vote in the 1856 presidential election and finished behind both the Democratic and the Republican candidates.

The party quickly declined after the 1856 election. The 1857 Dred Scott v. Sandford decision of the Supreme Court further aroused opposition to slavery in the North, where many Know-Nothings joined the Republicans. Most of the remaining members of the party supported the Constitutional Union Party during the 1860 presidential election.