Our nation just came through another presidential election. I witnessed the posturing of both parties since the 2008 elections and was struck by how radical those people in power who were elected as a Republican had become. Immediately the Whig Party crossed my mind.
I remember studying the Whig Party in high school and college but had long forgotten about the details. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a Whig is a member a political party that was formed in opposition to the Jacksonian Democrats. It was established about 1834 and was replaced by the Republican party in 1854.
The party was not particularly successful until it ran William Henry Harrison for president in 1839. The Panic of 1837 was largely responsible for Martin Van Buren's failure to be elected to a second term. Harrison died in 1840 after serving only 31 days of his term and was succeeded by John Tyler.
Tyler vetoed the Whig economic legislation and as a result he was expelled from the party in September of 1841. He served the remainder of his presidential term without a party affliation. The party did not fare too well in the 1842 Congressional races but ran a close presidential race in 1844, however, the Whig candidate, Henry Clay, lost to James K. Polk. Henry Clay was a protectionist and was opposed to the western expansion.
When the party selected Zachary Taylor as their candidate in 1848, the Democrats were split. The Democrats ran Lewis Cass, a prominent Midwesterner. (I wrote about Cass on October 30, 2011.) But a splinter group, called the Free Soil Party, ran Martin Van Buren. Taylor won the presidency but died in July 1850.
Although Taylor was a slaveowner, he was opposed to allowing slavery to be expanded to the western territories. His successor, Millard Fillmore, helped push the Compromise of 1850 through Congress. This compromise delayed the issue over slavery for about four years. The Whig Party never managed to form a cohesive party and finally began to disintegrate about 1852.
The Irish Famine resulted in a large migration of poor Irish to the United States and this resulted in a new issue of nativism and prohibition. A new party was formed on the platform of denying Irish immigrants the ability to become a citizen. (I wrote about this on May 26, 2010.)
The anti-slavery issue re-emerged as a major issue. In addition, the deaths of Whig leaders, southener Henry Clay and northerner Daniel Webster, in 1852 severely weakened the Whig Party. Many of the northern Whigs moved to the new Republican party and most of the southern Whigs moved a newly formed American Party.
The Democrats won the next two elections. It was the Republican Abraham Lincoln who won the election in 1860. The Republican party held presidential positions through 1884 when the party lost the position to Grover Cleveland. Since that time, the office has been held by both Republican and Democrats.
Since I was able to vote, I may have been disappointed that my candidate did not win but I never saw it as a catastophe when my candidate lost. There was a civility that I have watched erode. When I lived in Los Angeles, I noticed that I was much more forgiving of the traffic trangressions of my neighbors than of those whom I did not know.
I began to watch the erosion of this civility after the 2000 elections. I am not certain why this happened, but I believe that this was the beginning of the downfall of the Republican Party. I see a fanatic faction taking over the party and are leaving behind the moderates who are interested in the well-being of our country.
I was greatly troubled when I heard the leaders of the Republican party after the election of Barack Obama say that their goal was to make him a one term president. I was really hoping that their goal would have been to make our country succeed.
As I watched this last election cycle, I found the Republican leadership out of touch with what the American public wanted. I was waiting for the moderate Republicans in office to stand up. They didn't and Barack Obama won. I am wondering if the Republican Party is on the path of demise like the Whig Party.
Showing posts with label Irish Immigration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Irish Immigration. Show all posts
Friday, November 9, 2012
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
History Repeats Itself Again
I was listening to a Bruce Springsteen CD Saturday afternoon as I was doing things around the house. One of the songs was "My Hometown." As I listened to the words, I thought to myself, "this seems familiar."
The song tells of tensions running high in 1965 in his high school between blacks and whites. At the same time there are vacant stores in his hometown. The textile mill closed and the foreman says, "These jobs are going boys and they ain't coming back to your hometown." It is 2010 and I am hearing the same things; tension between blacks, whites and Hispanics and jobs going somewhere else.
Jobs were going overseas in 1965 but those jobs were mostly jobs held by textile workers. Most garments that we wear today are made elsewhere. As I recall, in the early 1970s, many of the garments we purchased had a label that said, "Hecho en Mexico." Soon our garments were being manufactured in other Latin Americans countries like Honduras. Then, at some point, I noted that clothing was being made in Asian countries including Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Viet Nam, and China. As time passed, other jobs went overseas, such as automobile, computer and electronics manufacturing. Today, China is the largest producer of many of the goods that we purchase including toys.
Forty-five years later, jobs are still going overseas and tensions are running high. This time the tension is mostly between Hispanic immigrants and whites in the states that border Mexico. As I watch the reactions of the people on both sides of the issue unfold, I am reminded of the period in American history in which a large number of Irish came to the United States.
It was 1847 when the Irish came to America in the first big wave of Irish immigrants. Between 1845 and 1847, a million people died in Ireland as result of the potato famine. Fleeing the specter of starvation, Ireland lost another million to the United States. In 1850, the Irish represented the largest foreign-born population at 43% and were concentrated in Boston and New York. Of these about a quarter settled in Boston, a decidedly Protestant city.
The Irish were not treated well in either New York or in Boston. They were highly exploited and preyed upon. They faced discrimination in both cities but more so in Boston. I find it interesting that people whose ancestors fled Europe to escape religious persecution in the 17th century, themselves became persecutors of the Irish primarily because they were Catholic.
An anti-Catholic sentiment brewed and resulted in the burning of Catholic convents and churches and the homes of Irish immigrants. Some Irish immigrants were killed by mobs. Violence against Catholics was not exclusive to Boston, but occurred in Philadelphia, Baltimore, St. Louis, New Orleans and Louisville. A militant anti-Catholic political party was formed and called the Know-Nothings.
The goal of this party was to end Irish immigration to the US and keep those who were already here from becoming naturalized citizens. The party was the strongest in Massachusetts when in 1854, every one of its candidates won political office including the candidate for governor. It was the outbreak of the Civil War that turned the nation's attention away from the Irish immigrants.
As I write this, I feel a sense of deja vu and frustration that we don't seem to learn from the past. I don't understand the violence and hatred since every person in North America is an immigrant, even the "native" Americans. We all sprang from someone who came from elsewhere.
Source: Irish Potato Famine, The History Place, 2000. Accessed May 26, 2010.
The song tells of tensions running high in 1965 in his high school between blacks and whites. At the same time there are vacant stores in his hometown. The textile mill closed and the foreman says, "These jobs are going boys and they ain't coming back to your hometown." It is 2010 and I am hearing the same things; tension between blacks, whites and Hispanics and jobs going somewhere else.
Jobs were going overseas in 1965 but those jobs were mostly jobs held by textile workers. Most garments that we wear today are made elsewhere. As I recall, in the early 1970s, many of the garments we purchased had a label that said, "Hecho en Mexico." Soon our garments were being manufactured in other Latin Americans countries like Honduras. Then, at some point, I noted that clothing was being made in Asian countries including Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Viet Nam, and China. As time passed, other jobs went overseas, such as automobile, computer and electronics manufacturing. Today, China is the largest producer of many of the goods that we purchase including toys.
Forty-five years later, jobs are still going overseas and tensions are running high. This time the tension is mostly between Hispanic immigrants and whites in the states that border Mexico. As I watch the reactions of the people on both sides of the issue unfold, I am reminded of the period in American history in which a large number of Irish came to the United States.
It was 1847 when the Irish came to America in the first big wave of Irish immigrants. Between 1845 and 1847, a million people died in Ireland as result of the potato famine. Fleeing the specter of starvation, Ireland lost another million to the United States. In 1850, the Irish represented the largest foreign-born population at 43% and were concentrated in Boston and New York. Of these about a quarter settled in Boston, a decidedly Protestant city.
The Irish were not treated well in either New York or in Boston. They were highly exploited and preyed upon. They faced discrimination in both cities but more so in Boston. I find it interesting that people whose ancestors fled Europe to escape religious persecution in the 17th century, themselves became persecutors of the Irish primarily because they were Catholic.
An anti-Catholic sentiment brewed and resulted in the burning of Catholic convents and churches and the homes of Irish immigrants. Some Irish immigrants were killed by mobs. Violence against Catholics was not exclusive to Boston, but occurred in Philadelphia, Baltimore, St. Louis, New Orleans and Louisville. A militant anti-Catholic political party was formed and called the Know-Nothings.
The goal of this party was to end Irish immigration to the US and keep those who were already here from becoming naturalized citizens. The party was the strongest in Massachusetts when in 1854, every one of its candidates won political office including the candidate for governor. It was the outbreak of the Civil War that turned the nation's attention away from the Irish immigrants.
As I write this, I feel a sense of deja vu and frustration that we don't seem to learn from the past. I don't understand the violence and hatred since every person in North America is an immigrant, even the "native" Americans. We all sprang from someone who came from elsewhere.
Source: Irish Potato Famine, The History Place, 2000. Accessed May 26, 2010.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)