...« Lincoln had no taste for such things. "I am not a Know-Nothing. That is certain," he explained. "How could I be? How can any one who abhors the oppression...be in favor of degrading classes of white people." So what was he? "That is a disputed point," Lincoln said. "I think I am a whig; but others say there...

...as the KnowNothing Party. Its platform was tartly characterized by a leading politician of the day. I am not a Know-Nothing. That is certain. How could...negroes, be in favor of degrading classes of white peopk? Our progress in degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rapid. As a nation, we began by declaring...

...the hypocrisy of its members. This was clearly expressed when he wrote to a friend, "How can anyone who abhors the oppression of negroes be in favor of...white people? Our progress in degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rapid. As a nation we began by declaring that 'all men are created equal.' We now practically...

...any faith in nativism. "I am not a Know-Nothing. That is certain," he wrote in 1855. "How can anyone who abhors the oppression of negroes, be in favor of degrading classes of white people?" Lincoln's sublime confidence in the universality of natural law led to him to see in "Hans and Baptiste...

...liability. This led Abraham Lincoln to say in 1855: "I am not a Know-Nothing. How could I be? How can anyone who abhors the oppression of negroes, be in favor of degrading classes of white people?" (Note: Negro was not at that time capitalized; current usage requires it, even as most US blacks prefer...