Native American Party

Hundreds of thousands of immigrants—many of whom were Catholic—poured into the United States during the first half of the nineteenth century. Many Americans felt overwhelmed and threatened by the large number of foreigners landing on their shores. In response, anti-immigrationists formed political organizations founded on the principle of nativism, a movement devoted to the idea that immigrants threatened the economic and political security of “native” Americans—white, Anglo-Saxon Protestants. One such organization, the Native American Party, founded in 1844, helped dozens of candidates get elected to office in New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts that year. The candidates and their followers were committed to keeping America free of immigrant influences by electing only “native” Americans and requiring twenty-five years’ residency for citizenship.

The Native American Party held its...