Immigrants Groups/Rise of Nativism

Nativism

• A belief or policy that favors the interests of native inhabitants over those of immigrants.

• It can manifest in various forms such as cultural, political, or economic preferences for natives.

Order of the “Star-Spangled Banner”

• A secret society in the United States in the mid-19th century that opposed immigration, particularly from Ireland and Germany.

• It later evolved into the American Party, also known as the Know-Nothing Party.

Germans immigration

• Both economic hardships and the failure of democratic revolutions in 1848 caused more than 1 million _______ to seek refuge in the United States in the late 1840s and the 1850s

• Established homesteads throughout the Old Northwest

• Often alcoholics

• Roman Catholicism

Chinese immigration

• Faced discrimination in the U.S. due to economic competition and cultural differences.

• The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 restricted Chinese immigration, reflecting anti-Chinese sentiments during that period.

American “Know Nothing” Party

• Emerged in the mid-1850s, drawing support away from the Whigs after their defeat in the 1852 election.

• Core issue was opposition to Catholics and immigrants entering Northern cities.

• Formed due to nativist hostility towards immigrants