I think American politic is repeating itself to the John Wilkes Booth days one man one rogue political party changed the face of politics to violence and nobody knows nothing? (Teabaggers Sarah Palin Jared Lee Loughner Knows nothing.)
(Tucson Arizona U.S Gabreielle Gifford Shooting, Look into Americas past history and you may find justice in todays world of politics, politics may have changed but never people old fashion political underhandedness )By Keith RanvilleHistory Excerpts
In 1854, members of the American Party allegedly stole and destroyed the block of granite contributed by Pius IX for the Washington Monument. They also took over the monument's building society and controlled it for four years. What little progress occurred in their tenure had to be undone and remade. For the full story, see Washington Monument: History.
In California in 1854, Sam Roberts founded a Know-Nothing chapter in San Francisco. The group was formed in opposition to Chinese and Irish immigrants.
Fillmore/Donelson campaign poster
In spring 1855, Levi Boone was elected Mayor of Chicago for
the Know Nothings. He barred all immigrants from city jobs. Statewide, however, Republican Abraham Lincoln blocked the party from any successes. Ohio was the only state where the party gained strength in 1855. Their Ohio success seems to have come from winning over immigrants, especially German Lutherans and Scotch Irish Presbyterians who opposed Catholicism. In Alabama, the Know Nothings were a mix of former Whigs, malcontented Democrats, and other political outsiders who favored state aid to build more railroads. In the tempestuous 1855 campaign, the Democrats won by convincing state voters that Alabama Know Nothings would not protect slavery from Northern abolitionists.
The party name gained wide but brief popularity. Nativism became a new American rage: Know-Nothing candy, Know-nothing tea, and Know-Nothing toothpicks appeared. Stagecoaches were dubbed "The Know-Nothing." In Trescott, Maine, a shipowner dubbed his new 700-ton freighter, "Know-Nothing."
Violence
Certain Know Nothings were not content to attempt to bring about their agenda through peaceful means. Intimidation meant to keep Catholics away from the ballot box came to a head on August 6, 1855, in Louisville, Kentucky. In a hotly contested race for the office of governor of that state,
Know Nothings killed 22, injured many more, and destroyed property. The Louisville riot was only the most spectacular of violent acts perpetrated by Know Nothing sympathizers in 1855.
In Baltimore the mayoral elections of 1856, 1857 and 1858 were all marred by violence and well-founded accusations of ballot-rigging.
Guess who at age of 16,
young John Wilkes Booth was interested in the theater and in politics, and became a delegate from Bel Air to a rally by
the Know Nothing Party for Henry Winter Davis, the anti-immigrant party's candidate for Congress in the 1854 elections.
latest news on the Tucson Arizona mass killings a second killer is suspected?keith_ranville@hotmail.com
