|
"Know-Nothings" abandon secrecy, meet in Austin
On this day in 1856, the American or Know-Nothing party of Texas met for
the first time in open convention in Austin. The party was the political
manifestation of the xenophobic, anti-Catholic secret society known as
the American Order. In the summer of 1855 Texas Know-Nothing leaders
launched a plan to gain political control of the state. Lieutenant
Governor David C. Dickson, who had defected from the Democratic party,
headed the ticket, though he and his fellow candidates steadfastly
denied that they were members of the American Order. During the spirited
ensuing campaign Sam Houston issued a public letter endorsing the
principles of the American Order. Though incumbent Democratic governor
Elisha M. Pease defeated Dickson in the August election, the American
party elected Lemuel D. Evans to Congress and about a dozen members to
the state legislature. Buoyed by these limited successes, the party held
a November rally in Austin at which Houston spoke, and at the January
convention elected delegates to the national convention and nominated
candidates for several state offices. But the national movement soon
split over the issue of slavery, and by 1857 the American party had
virtually disappeared in Texas.
- Links to Related Handbook of Texas Online Articles
- AMERICAN PARTY
- DICKSON, DAVID CATCHINGS
- DEMOCRATIC PARTY
- HOUSTON, SAMUEL
- PEASE, ELISHA MARSHALL
- EVANS, LEMUEL DALE
- SLAVERY
- ANTEBELLUM TEXAS
- Other Texas Day by Day Articles for This Date
- Charitable foundation begins bumpy journey (1960)
- Mason County courthouse burns (1877)
- Sid Richardson Hall dedicated (1971)
|
