Know-Nothings
Antebellum anti-immigrant party
The Know-Nothings were members of a nativist American political movement in the 1850s, formally the American Party, hostile to immigrants and Catholics.
The name came from members' instruction to say "I know nothing" when asked about their secretive organization.
Today know-nothing (usually lowercase) describes someone proudly ignorant or anti-intellectual: The know-nothings on the committee rejected the scientific evidence.
Preference for native-born citizens
- anti-immigrantOpposing foreign newcomers
- xenophobiaHatred of outsiders
- bigotryIntolerance toward differing views
- intoleranceUnwillingness to accept differences
discrimination · ethnocentrism · prejudice · exclusion · restrictionism · scapegoating · nationalism · protectionism
Concealed from authorities
- covertIntentionally concealed
- secret societyCovert fraternal organization
- passwordsSecret authentication strings
- ritualsCeremonial repeated practices
handshakes · lodges · oaths · initiations · coded language · denial · evasion · underground
Legislative supremacy advocates
- Republican PartyRight-leaning American political organization
- Samuel MorseTelegraph pioneer, code creator
- anti-CatholicBiased against Roman Catholics
- secret ballotConfidential electoral choice
antebellum · Irish immigration · German immigration · temperance
Lacking necessary knowledge
- willful ignorancePurposely remaining uninformed
- anti-intellectualismHostility toward educated thought
- denialRefusal to accept reality
- evasionAct of escaping detection
nativism
Preference for native-born citizens
- anti-immigrantOpposing foreign newcomers
- xenophobiaHatred of outsiders
- bigotryIntolerance toward differing views
intolerance · discrimination · ethnocentrism · prejudice · exclusion · restrictionism · scapegoating · nationalism · protectionism · hostility
clandestine
Concealed from authorities
- covertIntentionally concealed
- secret societyCovert fraternal organization
- passwordsSecret authentication strings
rituals · handshakes · lodges · oaths · initiations · coded language · denial · evasion · underground · fraternal order
Whig Party
Legislative supremacy advocates
- Republican PartyRight-leaning American political organization
- Samuel MorseTelegraph pioneer, code creator
- anti-CatholicBiased against Roman Catholics
secret ballot · antebellum · Irish immigration · German immigration · temperance
uninformed
Lacking necessary knowledge
- willful ignorancePurposely remaining uninformed
- anti-intellectualismHostility toward educated thought
- denialRefusal to accept reality
evasion · feigned ignorance · plausible deniability · sworn secrecy
Know-Nothingsabolitionists
Those opposing human bondage
cosmopolitans · multiculturalists · pluralists · Tammany Hall · Radical Republicans
know, nothing, knows, knew, known, knowing, knowingly, unknowing, unknowingly