2023/09/01 by Robert F. Zeidel · 1 voice
Business, Management and Accounting · Social Sciences · #American Constitutional Law and Politics #American History and Culture #Race, History, and American Society
paper · doi:10.1093/jahist/jaad181
openalex publication_date 2023/09/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
If immigration may be said to be a foundation of American history, persistent nativism is its corollary. From the earliest days of the Republic—if not its colonial antecedents—to the present, the United States has defined itself as a nation of immigrants and has shown consistent distrust of its foreign-born residents. Manifestations of the latter, during which the aliens frequently have been treated as enemies, are the uglier chapters of the American saga. Fires of Philadelphia chronicles one such series of events. In 1844, protestants’ antipathy toward Catholics escalated to widespread violence. Nativists took to the streets, directing mayhem against their Catholic neighbors. Enraged mobs burned churches and assaulted so-called Papists. Assailants claimed that the primarily Irish immigrants were unsuited for democratic rule, given their purported allegiance to Pope Gregory XVI in Rome, and a danger to American social standards. When local militias attempted to restore order and protect property, their presence engendered protracted battles with the lawless protestants. Philadelphia became a war zone.