BookRags.com Literature Guides Literature
Guides
Criticism & Essays Criticism &
Essays
Questions & Answers Questions &
Answers
Lesson Plans Lesson
Plans
My Bibliography Periodic Table U.S. Presidents Shakespeare Sonnet Shake-Up
Research Anything:        
History | Encyclopedias | Films | News | Create a Bibliography | More... Login | Register | Help

Not What You Meant?  There are 37 definitions for Ignorance.

"A Know Nothing" (Anonymous)

Print-Friendly  Order the PDF version  Order the RTF version
About 21 pages (6,162 words)
Know Nothing Summary

Bookmark and Share Questions on this topic? Just ask!

"A Know Nothing" (Anonymous)

Excerpt from the Know Nothing Platform

About 1855

An upstart political party reveals its platform

"The 'Order of Know Nothings' … are Americans by birth, the descendants of those who laid the foundation of our national greatness, and therefore feel that it is a pious duty devolved upon them to transmit the liberties of our country unimpaired, to the remotest posterity."

In the mid-1840s, the United States witnessed a sudden increase in the number of immigrants from Europe, particularly from Germany and Ireland. Political strife and widespread crop failures in Germany sent tens of thousands of immigrants to the United States. In Ireland, a devastating failure of the potato crop resulted in starvation for thousands; those who could afford a ticket out of Europe sailed to the United States, many virtually penniless.

The Irish immigrants in particular were overwhelmingly Roman Catholic, the Christian church headed by the pope in Rome, Italy. The arrival of the Irish immigrants in eastern cities like New York, Boston, and Philadelphia marked the first significant number of Catholics in a country that previously had been primarily Protestant. This sudden inflow of immigrants sparked a sharp reaction among some Americans, who feared that the character of the United States might change dramatically if large numbers of Catholics became citizens.

This is a free page. This page contains 201 words. This article contains 6,162 words (approx. 21 pages at 300 words per page).

Read the rest of this Article with our "A Know Nothing" (Anonymous) Access Pass.

Ask any question on Know Nothing and get it answered FAST!
Answer questions in BookRags Q&A and earn points toward
discounted or even FREE Study Guides and other BookRags products!
Learn more about BookRags Q&A
Copyrights
"A Know Nothing" (Anonymous) from U.S. Immigration and Migration Reference Library. ©2005-2006 by U•X•L. U•X•L is an imprint of Thomson Gale, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. All rights reserved.

Join BookRagslearn moreJoin BookRags




About BookRags | Customer Service | Report an Error | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy