"The Demon of Blood and Slaughter:" Know-Nothing Gangs and Working-Class Republicanism in 19th Century Baltimore

Abstract

This thesis examines white working-class male identity in Baltimore during the nineteenth century and how its expression through nativism and violence was directed against African Americans, foreign-born immigrants, and political opponents. It argues that the Know-Nothing Party’s rise to power in Baltimore took advantage of existing schisms and violent identities caused by the market revolution. In examining the tradition of artisan republicanism and social violence, this thesis argues that the ideology of working-class republicanism was a tool for the expansion of nineteenth century nativism and gang affiliation because it reinforced a violent white male identity. This identity, mixed with the social and political environment, culminated in the Baltimore riots of the 1850s and 1861.