http://www.huffingtonpost.com/timothy-a-ridout/antimuslim-agitators-are-_b_694979.htmlThe current xenophobia directed against Muslims in the U.S. is distressing. The issue is bigger than just the "Ground Zero Mosque." It is about the treatment of Muslims all over the country. It is about the core American principles of tolerance and religious freedom.
To be sure, the U.S. struggles with varying levels of intolerance on a regular basis. However, sometimes passions can elevate persecution of a certain group to an alarming level that constitutes an assault on American values. These feelings are often the result of substantial political and/or economic change, and countless groups have been victimized over time. One example of such persecution was directed against Catholics in the mid-1800s. It seems hard to believe given their invaluable contributions to American society, but Catholics were once depicted by some as an insidious cancer that would irredeemably corrupt the nation.
The Know Nothing movement was rooted in nativist sentiment and it was virulently anti-Catholic, largely directed against the Irish and German immigrants who flooded into the U.S. in the 1840s and 1850s. The term "Know Nothing" was a reference to the semi-secret societies out of which the movement grew -- if asked about the activities of these societies, members were supposed to reply, "I know nothing."
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Of course, the Know Nothings' fears about Catholics were groundless, and the political movement largely disappeared after 1860, leaving us only with the commonly used term. Their fears had widespread currency during the 1850s because massive social change and the accompanying dislocation welcomed a scapegoat. The spread of railroads, high unemployment, increased immigration, and intensifying conflict over slavery were some of the major contributors to the social turmoil that fueled anti-Catholic, nativist sentiment.
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