150 years ago American politics suffered the same shameful gang of bigots as we do today with the Tea Party. They were known as the Know Nothings. Read up on the Know Nothings
Though the Know Nothings came into being in the late 1830s it was not until 1854 through 1856 that they became something to actually contend with in American politics. East of the Mississippi it was a white protestant movement railing against Catholics, Germans and Irish, on the West Coast it included Asians. Blacks of course were not included as they were owned and as such well behaved and out of site.
In 1854 the Know Nothing founded a political party called the American Party and began winning elections. The platform of the American Party during their heyday:
Severe limits on immigration, especially from Catholic countries.
Restricting political office to native-born Americans of English and/or Scottish lineage and Protestant persuasion.
Mandating a wait of 21 years before an immigrant could gain citizenship.
Restricting public school teacher positions to Protestants.
Restricting the use of languages other than English.
Mandating daily Bible readings in public schools.
Restricting the sale of liquor.
You see? That last two cinches it. It’s the same KIND OF PEOPLE whining about the same kind of things which sadly changes little over time.
The good news is that the issue of slavery tore the Know Nothings and the American Party to shreds and they were buried in the ash heap of history after just 2 years of being in the game.
And make no bones about it. The term "Know Nothing" is not a term of endearment. It is the impetus in the success of Sarah Palin and the phone voting for her daughter in Dancing with the Stars. It is proof in the pudding that today’s politics is no longer so much Left versus Right as it is Stupid (uneducated Republican Base) versus Smart (educated elitists). Here, in the United States of Duh.