Orange County Citizens Foundation
Nonprofit Organization
Send Message
Orange County Citizens Foundation
6 hrs ·
Tomorrow is the big day in New York for voters.
This Smithsonian article on the Know-Nothing Party provides a good history of our two-party system and a great overview of third parties in our nation. Looking back at history is a great way to better understand current events. Here’s an excerpt to pique your interest:
From 1820 to 1845, anywhere from 10,000 to 1,000,000 immigrants entered the U.S. each year. Then, as a consequence of economic instability in Germany and a potato famine in Ireland, those figures turned from a trickle into a tsunami. Between 1845 and 1854, 2.9 million immigrants poured into the country, and many of them were of Catholic faith. Suddenly, more than half the residents of New York City were born abroad, and Irish immigrants comprised 70% of charity recipients. As cultures clashed, fear exploded and conspiracies abounded. Posters around Boston proclaimed, “All Catholics and all persons who favor the Catholic Church are…vile imposters, liars, villains, and cowardly cutthroats.”
Read it here!
Sylvia Santiago 