Examiner's questions for admittance to the American (or Know-Nothing) Party, July 1854

Reproduction number: A3 (color slide)
Anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic movements in American political life had their inception in the 1840s, due to the arrival of large numbers of Irish immigrants at that time and the increasing role being played by the Catholic Church in education and other areas of public life. The best known of these nativist groups came to be called the American Party, and its adherents as Know-Nothings. The aim of the Know-Nothing movement was to combat foreign influences and to uphold and promote traditional American ways. Sworn to secrecy, the Know-Nothings derived their name from their standard reply to questions about their rituals and mysteries--"I know nothing about it." The movement had considerable success in the 1850s, electing governors in Massachusetts and Delaware, and placing Millard Fillmore (1800-1874) on a presidential ticket in 1856. Thereafter the party went into a swift decline.
The "Obligation" assumed by prospective candidates for membership is spelled out in this document emanating from Newburg, near Shippensburg, in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, July 1854. It required the candidate to "solemnly . . . swear upon that sacred and Holy emblem before Almighty God, and these witnesses, that you will not divulge or make known to any person whatever, the nature of the questions I may ask you here, the names of the persons you may see here or that you know that such an organization is going on as such, whether you become a member or not!" The candidate was then required to pledge to elect only native-born citizens to office, to the exclusion of all foreigners and Roman Catholics.