Nativist fear of minorities surged only during major crises before the Civil War
Evidence
In addition to the special curbs on race-thinking, every nativist tendency in pre-Civil War America operated under powerful limitations. Only during the two great crises of the 1790’s and 1850’s did fear of foreign minorities strike deeply in many native hearts. Even then, wider, more inclusive ideals of nationality were stubbornly defended and ultimately victorious. In general the American people maintained a cocksure faith in themselves, in their boundless opportunities for improvement and acquisition, and in the self-perpetuating strength of their principles of freedom. — John Higham, Strangers in the Land, 71
Categorization
- XREF: Evidence that manufactured-enemy solidarity (nativism) is crisis-dependent and decays when crisis passes — the ‘external enemy’ mechanism is episodic, not primordial. — connects to: Pre-Civil War channels pre-shaped later American xenophobia — John Higham, Strangers in the Land: Patterns of…, 72; Racial nativism matured only when public confidence recovered — John Higham, Strangers in the Land: Patterns of…, 762; Civil War enlistment crushed prewar anti-immigrant nativism — John Higham, Strangers in the Land: Patterns of…, 77 (+1 more)
Broader Connections
- Pre-Civil War channels pre-shaped later American xenophobia
#expands(0.85) — John Higham, Strangers in the Land, 72 - Racial nativism matured only when public confidence recovered
#contradicts(0.80) — John Higham, Strangers in the Land, 762 - Civil War enlistment crushed prewar anti-immigrant nativism
#complicates(0.78) — John Higham, Strangers in the Land, 77 - Nativist fears persist in stunted form rather than vanish when dormant
#complicates(0.75) — John Higham, Strangers in the Land, 170