U.S. political movement in the mid-19th cent. The increased immigration of the 1840s had resulted in concentrations of Roman Catholic immigrants in the Eastern cities. The Democrats welcomed them, but local nativist societies were formed to combat "foreign" influences and uphold the "American" view. The American Republican party, formed (1843) in New York, spread to neighboring states as the Native American party and became a national party in 1845. Many secret orders sprang up, and when outsiders made inquiries of supposed members, they were met with a statement that the person knew nothing; hence members were called Know-Nothings. The Know-Nothings sought to elect only native Americans to office and to require 25 years of residence for citizenship. Allied with a faction of the WHIG PARTY, they almost captured New York in the 1854 election and swept the polls in Massachusetts and Delaware. In 1855 they adopted the name American party and dropped much of their secrecy. The issue of slavery, however, split the party, and many antislavery members joined the new REPUBLICAN PARTY. Millard FILLMORE, the American party's presidential candidate in 1856, won only Maryland, and the party's national strength was broken.
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