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Why have Americans expressed concern about immigration at some times but not at others? In pursuit of an answer, this book examines America’s first nativist movement, which responded to the rapid influx of 4.2 million immigrants between 1840 and 1860 and culminated in the dramatic rise of the National American Party. As previous studies have focused on the coasts, historians have not yet completely explained why westerners joined the ranks of the National American, or “Know Nothing,” Party or why the nation’s bloodiest anti-immigrant riots erupted in western cities—namely Chicago, Cincinnati, Louisville, and St. Louis. In focusing on the antebellum West, Inventing America’s First Immigration Crisis illuminates the cultural, economic, and political issues that originally motivated American nativism and explains how it ultimately shaped the political relationship between church and state.In six detailed chapters, Ritter explains how unprecedented immigration from Europe and rapid westward expansion reignited fears of Catholicism as a corrosive force. He presents new research on the inner sanctums of the secretive Order of Know-Nothings and provides original data on immigration, crime, and poverty in the urban West. Ritter argues that the country’s first bout of political nativism actually renewed Americans’ commitment to church-state separation. Native-born Americans compelled Catholics and immigrants, who might have otherwise shared an affinity for monarchism, to accept American-style democracy. Catholics and immigrants forced Americans to adopt a more inclusive definition of religious freedom. This study offers valuable insight into the history of nativism in U.S. politics and sheds light on present-day concerns about immigration, particularly the role of anti-Islamic appeals in recent elections.

SOCIAL SCIENCE / Discrimination & Race Relations. --- Nativism --- Immigrants --- History. --- History --- Emigrants --- Foreign-born population --- Foreign population --- Foreigners --- Migrants --- Persons --- Aliens --- Anti-Catholicism --- Catholics --- American Party. --- Anti-Catholicism. --- Donald Trump. --- German. --- Immigrant. --- Immigration. --- Irish. --- Know-Nothing Party. --- Nativism. --- West.

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Through a fascinating discussion of religion's role in the rhetoric of American civilizing empire, this book undertakes an exploration of how Catholic mission histories served as a useful reference for Americans narrating U.S. settler colonialism on the North American continent and seeking to extend military, political, and cultural power around the world. The text traces historical celebrations of Catholic missionary histories in the upper Midwest, Southern California, and the U.S. colonial Philippines to demonstrate the improbable centrality of the Catholic missions to ostensibly Protestant imperial endeavors.

Anti-Catholicism --- History. --- Catholic Church --- Catholic Church --- Catholic Church --- Historiography. --- Missions --- History. --- Missions --- History. --- United States --- United States --- Philippines --- United States --- History --- Religious aspects --- Catholic Church. --- Territorial expansion --- Historiography. --- History --- Religious aspects --- Catholic Church. --- History --- Catholicism, Empire, Calfifornia, Midwest, Philippines, Civilization.