Know Nothings

Maybe a better name, which isn't begging to be made fun of. :D

Actually, seriously, I think the main reason the Know-Nothings faded away was because their nativist anti-Catholic agenda ended up looking less important than the slavery debate and north-versus-south conflict. When it came to having issues to care about, people were more ready to divide themselves over slavery expansion than they were over immigration. You can even see that in the later years of the American Party, where in several states it was basically taken over by proto-Republicans.

So I guess what you'd have to do is permanently settle the question of slavery expansion somehow.
 

Thande

Donor
Fillmore actually did much better in 1856 than the electoral map or his reputation would suggest, largely because the Know Nothings were considered a viable alternative to the Democrats in the South, whereas the Republicans were treated as un-American traitors and often not allowed on the ballot at all. So if Buchanan's campaign runs into problems, Fillmore could have picked up several southern states, hang the electoral college and potentially play kingmaker.
 
I'm actually really curious about this now -- is there a way to actually settle the slavery expansion dispute early, in a way more permanent than the 1850 Compromise, so that the Know-Nothings' agenda can become the main talking points of American politics?

Hmm... actually, do you think it may be better to save the Whig Party somehow and make the Know-Nothings take it over or at least become a dominant faction within it, rather than giving them their own party? That way they could drive the agenda of everyone on their side of politics (like the Religious Right of the present day) rather than competing against the Oppositionists and Republicans and all the other former Whigs in addition to the Democrats.
 

Thande

Donor
I'm actually really curious about this now -- is there a way to actually settle the slavery expansion dispute early, in a way more permanent than the 1850 Compromise, so that the Know-Nothings' agenda can become the main talking points of American politics?

I don't think you need to settle the slavery dispute in order to make the Know-Nothings more electable. You just need to make the Democrats more dominated by southern slaveholders to the point that the Northern Democrats split (as happened in 1860 in OTL) and join the Know-Nothings: the Know-Nothings could paint themselves as a moderate force that says "We're not all about slavery" in between the anti-slavery Republicans and pro-slavery Democrats, and can compete with the Republicans in the North and the Democrats in the South, while those two parties only seriously compete against each other anymore in a handful of states. This would take a few electoral cycles and the slavery question to be pushed onto the back burner though.

To see what I mean about Fillmore doing much better in the 1856 election than people tend to think, and effectively competing with the Democrats, see here and here. Who knows how well they could do with a candidate more charismatic and interesting than Fillmore? (Though name recognition may have helped OTL).

OTL I believe the Constitutional Union ticket in 1860 incorporated the remnants of the Whig and Know-Nothing parties, which gives you an idea of their 'shut up about slavery either way' attitude.
 
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