Date of Award
Spring 5-2016
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Degree Program
History
Department
History
Major Professor
Atkinson, Connie
Second Advisor
Mitchell, Molly
Third Advisor
Dupont, Robert
Abstract
In New Orleans during the 1830s, Irish immigration became a source of tension between newly settled Anglo-American elites and the long-established Creole hegemony. Out of this tension, in 1835 Anglo-American elites established the Louisiana Native American Association (LNAA) to block Irish immigrants from gaining citizenship and, ultimately, the right to vote. The Whig Party, whom most Louisiana Anglo-Americans supported, promoted nativism to prevent naturalized Irish from voting Democrat, the preferred party of the Creoles. This study will argue that the LNAA, under the leadership of William H. Christy, was not merely a reaction to increased Irish immigration, but was also a strategy used by the Louisiana Whig Party to gain dominion over state politics. In the end, this strategy did more harm than good to the Whigs as the nativist movement led to a fatal split within the party.
Recommended Citation
Todd, Brett R., "The “True American”: William H. Christy and the Rise of the Louisiana Nativist Movement, 1835-1855" (2016). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 2197.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/2197
Rights
The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.