The Know-Nothing Party: The American Party

Enter the presidential election of 1860, which brought these problems to a collision with dramatic consequences. The Democratic Party split into three groups along their regional lines, with each one vying for control of the party and each holding different ideas about how to deal with slavery in the West. They camps consisted of John C. Breckinride, John Bell, and Stephen A. Douglas; their efforts would be worthless however, as Abraham Lincoln would win for the Republican Party. Lincoln stood on the grounds that the West should be absolutely free of slavery entirely; which apparently was enough as he won the election with less than forty percent of the popular vote. On a side note about the election, fifty-nine percent of the Electoral College did vote for Lincoln;

     The Republicans and Democrats didn’t really have strong opposing beliefs during this period. The Republicans supported high tariffs and sound money. The Democrats supported lower tariffs and expanded currency. Both rural and urban classes supported each party. They worked with spoils and local issues. Both

Generally speaking, anyone who lives in the United States of America knows that there are two main political parties—the Republicans and the Democrats. Having two main parties has its advantages and, of course, its disadvantages. For example, in By the People James E. Monroe and Rogan Kersh (301) point out having this type of system creates “predictability and stability.” However, they also declare (301) it can “lead to a gridlock.” This is not a new concept either as there has been a divide since the beginning of both parties. The two parties more often than not disagree on various issues, while rarely agreeing on what is best for the country.

The election of 1852 was without suspense from the beginning. The Democrats nominated Franklin Pierce as their candidate. His only major opponent was Winfield Scott of the Whig party, which was rapidly declining support. Another candidate, John Hale of the Free Soil party, received very few votes and had very little impact on the election. Neither Pierce nor Scott seemed to have very strong views. The only real topic in the nation during this time was slavery, but both candidates avoided much talk

After years of enduring a devastating potato famine, Irish-Catholics were forced to flee to America to begin a new life for themselves and their families. A sudden spike in Catholic immigration caused major concern for the Protestant settlers who thought the new arrivals would tarnish the culture they so carefully established. The Catholic religion was beginning to spread throughout America and anti-Catholicism groups and organization formed and made it their mission to destroy the Catholic Church with violence by burning churches, massacres, destroying property, and other systematic discrimination. One well known group was the Know-Nothing party. Know-Nothing party is a byname of the American Party, a U.S. political party that flourished in the 1850s. The Know-Nothing party was an outgrowth of the strong anti-immigrant and especially anti-Roman Catholic sentiment that started to manifest itself during the 1840s (Know-Nothing party,

It was the beginning of the first formal national movement of the United States and they use their political position to create alcohol laws to regulate the availability of the alcohol.

The Republicans chose Rutherford B. Hayes as their presidential candidate for the election of 1876. The Democrats chose Samuel J. Tilden.

In the summer of 1854 a group of former whigs met in Ripon, Wisconsin to discuss forming a new political party, with the platform of stopping slavery http://www.ushistory.org/gop/origins.htm. There were two types of whigs, the Conscience Whigs and the Cotton Whigs. The Conscience Whigs were abolitionist and the Cotton Whigs were pro-slavery supporter. The party was made up of Anti-Nebraska democrats and anti-Nebraska whigs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3D37o7KD1s. The textbook states that “In 1854 the republicans chose candidates to challenge the pro-slavery Whigs and Democrats in state and congressional elections.” The party took Michigan and made advances in other states in the North, by 1855 they soon won control of the House of Representatives and other state governments(Mr. Adreon notes and Discovering our Past; The History of the United States Early Years p.433 ). On February 22 of 1856 in Pittsburgh, the Republican Party attended their first organizing convention. http://www.ushistory.org/gop/origins.htm. William H. Seward was considered as nominee but John C. Fremont was chosen. Fremont had no political record and led several expeditions in the West. Fremont went against a former president part of the Americans or Know Nothings political party, Millard Fillmore. The democratic nominee was James Buchanan. At this election the Republican Party had a few platforms and that was to denounce Kansas and Nebraska act, denounce the spread of slavery, and advocate internal improvements. The Republican Party won several North and Northwestern states, receiving almost no support in the south. James Buchanan won all southern states, midwestern states, and California. The Southern states threatened to secede if a Republican became president. The Know nothings only won Maryland. Even though the Republican Party failed in their first election, they grew. The Know

December 2 1840 - President Martin Van Buren is defeated for reelection by William Henry Harrison. Harrison a whig receives 234 electoral college votes to 60 and also wins the popular vote contest.

was the great awakening of religious beliefs. This took a lot of their time trying to

The Native American Party, renamed the American Party 1855 and commonly known as the "Know Nothing" movement, was an American Nativist political party that operated nationally in the mid-1850s. It was an anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant movement, often taking the form of a secret society. The movement briefly emerged as a major political party in the form of the American Party. Adherents to the movement were to reply "I know nothing" when asked about its specifics by outsiders, thus providing the group with its common appellation The "Know Nothings" believed a "Romanist" conspiracy was afoot to subvert civil and religious liberty in America and sought to politically organize native-born Protestants in the defense of traditional religious and

The relationship between the collapse of the Whig Party, the divide in the Democrat Party, and the Republican Presidential victory in 1860 was a reflection of how deeply the country was divided over the issue of slavery. Although anti-slavery sentiment was growing in the north, it was the expansion of the west and whether or not to allow those territories to become slave states that caused tremendous eruption on both sides of the issue. In as much as both parties tried to find a compromising solution, it was problematic and created divisions in the parties that could not be easily mended.

When James Buchanan ran for president in 1856, his popular vote was 1,838,169 and his electoral vote was 174. He was running against John C. Breckinridge and the votes were very close. President Buchanan was the 15th President, and at the age of 65, some people even thought that he was too old to run their country. Some people called him Old Buck, because of his age. President Buchanan was not married, but his niece was his housekeeper and was his only close relative, so they named his niece the First Lady. Her name was Harriet Buchanan.

Democracy in the United States is based on the indirect representation of the people by elected officials who are usually chosen by direct vote. Almost from the beginning of the United States' history, however, two parties have shared the great majority of the elected positions from the local level to the presidency. However, up until the mid-1850's when the Republican party was formed, other parties such as the Whigs, Federalists, and Anti-Federalists did not last very long. The Democratic Party has existed for much longer, tracing its roots from Thomas Jefferson's Democratic Republican Party beginning around 1792 (Encarta). The two largest parties have changed, third parties have

While this uncertainty was taking place, a social force greater than party loyalty was beginning to reshape American politics. The slavery issue, with the passions it aroused in the North and the South, gradually compelled a realignment of parties. The Whigs party began to split in 1852. This was a result of the deep split in opinion over slavery. During the next few years most Southern Whigs joined the Democrats. Northern Whigs joined northern antislavery Democrats. In 1854 groups of northern men against slavery urged the creation of a new political party opposed to the continuation of slavery. This party has become today’s Republicans. During 1854 to1860, the slavery issue became such a hot topic that even Democrats were becoming divided among themselves. In 1860 four candidates ran for the presidency. Brekenridge was the Southern Democrats candidate, Douglas was the Northern Democrats candidate,