1856 VT GOVERNOR KNOW NOTHING BRIGADIER GENERAL RYLAND FLETCHER LAW COMMISSION

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1856 VT GOVERNOR KNOW NOTHING BRIGADIER GENERAL RYLAND FLETCHER LAW COMMISSION:
$299.99

A historical document measuring approximately 8 x 12 1/2 inches in condition picture with no major tears and some edge foldovers.

Ryland Fletcher was the 18th Lieutenant Governor of Vermontfrom 1854 to 1856, and then was the 24th Governor of Vermont from 1856 to 1858.After leaving office, he served in the Vermont legislature and was a member ofthe State Constitutional Convention in 1870. In his early years he worked onhis father's farm and taught in a local school. He was a member of the Vermontstate militia, where he attained the rank of Brigadier General. He was thebrother of United States Representative Richard Fletcher.

Fletcher was a member of the anti-immigrant Know-Nothings in1856. Fletcher had said that "immigrants brought with them the 'mortaldisease (of) monarchy and despotism, of Romanism and heathenism... which leftunchecked would sweep away our most cherished liberties and dearistinstitutions.'"

The Know Nothing was a movement by the nativist Americanpolitical faction of the 1850s, characterized by political xenophobia,anti-Catholic sentiment, and occasional bouts of violence against the groupsthe nativists targeted. It was empowered by popular fears that the country wasbeing overwhelmed by German and Irish Catholic immigrants, who were oftenregarded as hostile to republican values and controlled by the Pope in Rome.Mainly active from 1854 to 1856, it strove to curb immigration and naturalization,though its efforts met with little success. Membership was limited toProtestant males of British American lineage. There were few prominent leaders,and the largely middle-class and entirely Protestant membership fragmented overthe issue of slavery.

Nativists had become active in politics in New York in 1843as the American Republican Party. It spread to nearby states as the NativeAmerican Party (which appealed to native-born white citizens) and won a fewthousand votes in 1844. Historian Tyler Anbinder warns, however, that the"Native American" party should not be confused with the Know-Nothingsbecause the two different groups ran separate tickets in the same elections inthe 1850s.

In the early 1850s numerous anti-Catholic secret orders grewup, of which the "Order of United Americans" and the Order of theStar Spangled Banner came to be the most important. They merged in New York inthe early 1850s as a secret order that quickly spread across the North,reaching Protestants, especially those who were lower middle class or skilledworkmen. Outsiders called them "Know-Nothings" and the name stuck. In1855 the Know-Nothings first entered politics under the American Partylabel. The origin of the "KnowNothing" term was in the semi-secret organization of the party. When amember was asked about its activities, he was supposed to reply, "I knownothing".

On Oct-01-12 at 11:31:24 PDT, seller added the following information: