Continued Growth Through Immigation & The Anti-Catholic Movement (College Board AP® US History)

Summary

During the early half of the 19^th century, nearly one-half of the population of Ireland migrated to the United States. Approximately the same number of immigrants came from Germany. These immigrants reshaped the social and cultural landscape of the United States. They were met with discrimination as most were Roman Catholic arriving in a predominantly Protestant country. They also were forced to live in slum-like living conditions. However, as they lived alongside each other in the growing cities they supported each other and kept their cultures alive.

Immigration of the mid-1800s

Reasons for Immigration  

• Irish immigrants fled from Ireland due to the Great Famine (1845–52)

• German immigrants arrived in search of political freedom and economic opportunities following the political upheaval within Germany in 1848

  • Germany at the time was not a unified country, but a collection of states

  •  Revolutions aimed at political reform and unification failed, leading many Germans to flee persecution

Cultural Enclaves 

• Immigrants settled in urban neighborhoods, where they could live among other people from their homeland

• Examples of cultural enclaves in New York City include:

  • Irish in Five Points 

  • Italians in Little Italy

  • Russians in Little Odessa

Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/67/Mulberry_Street_NYC_c1900_LOC_3g04637u_edit.jpg/640px-Mulberry_Street_NYC_c1900_LOC_3g04637u_edit.jpg 

• Enclaves preserved the culture of the immigrants’ homeland including: 

  • customs

  • language

  • religion

  • a support network

Living Conditions

• Most immigrants faced poverty

• Immigrants were confined to overcrowded tenements in big cities

• These neighborhoods often fostered stereotypes and resentment

• They often had:

  • unsanitary conditions

  • high crime rates

Source:
https://www.loc.gov/static/classroom-materials/immigration/images/italian17.jpg Italian 

Nativists & the Know-Nothing Party

Nativists

• The rise of immigration in the 1800s, particularly among Catholic immigrants from Ireland and Germany, led to rising hostility from native-born Americans

  • This fueled a movement called Nativism

• Nativists argued that immigrants were:

  • a threat to American values and society

  • potentially disloyal, fearing their loyalty to the Pope (in the case of Catholic immigrants) over American ideals

  • uneducated, criminal, and unwilling to assimilate

• Nativists were stereotyping immigrants

Know-Nothing Party

• The Know-Nothing Party was a political movement born from Nativist thoughts

  • The party were formed in the 1850s 

  • They were also known as The American Party

    • Members were often referred to as “Know-Nothings” due to their secretive nature

• The Party aimed to advance policies that would limit the influence of immigrants and protect the interests of native-born Americans. Their key policies included:

  • limiting immigrant voting rights

    • The “Know-Nothings” pushed to limit the political power of immigrants, particularly Catholics

    • Catholics were seen as going against the Protestant values of the Founding Fathers. 

    • Many immigrants were poor and living in extreme poverty, thus some Americans saw Catholic immigrants as prone to crime

  • extending naturalization periods

    • The ‘Know-Nothings’ pushed for longer waiting periods for immigrants to become naturalized citizens

    • This made it harder for immigrants at this time to gain citizenship and voting rights