The primary goal of the American Protective Association was to

The American Protective Association (APA) was the largest anti-Catholic organization in the United States during the late 1880s and 1890s. The organization was founded as a secret order in Clinton, Iowa, on 13 March 1887, by Henry Francis Bowers. Its goal was to fight the perceived threat posed by Roman Catholicism in the United States, a threat that was often couched in conspiratorial terms. Bowers was a lawyer who had been elected to a number of county offices as a Republican. He also was a Mason, a member of the Blue Lodge, and a member of the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. The incident that led to the creation of the APA was a local election in which a Protestant candidate believed he was defeated by the Catholic vote. The Bowers group met the Sunday after that election.

One of the central principles of the APA was support of the separation of church and state. The organization’s members were particularly concerned about Catholicism infiltrating public schools. The APA’s message proved popular. Soon after its founding, the organization grew, with chapters spreading through the Midwest. By 1891, there were branches in Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. The APA had 70,000 members in twenty states in 1893. Increased immigration and an economic panic led to additional growth so that by 1896, the organization’s peak year, it claimed 2.5 million members, spread across every state. Membership declined after the presidential election of 1896.

Most of the members of the APA were Republicans and, thus, Republican candidates had to give the organization serious consideration. In early 1896, the group attacked William McKinley, a potential Republican candidate for president. McKinley became a target because he failed to meet with members of the APA and to explain how he planned to implement their demands if he were elected. According to the organization’s platform officeholders were not to appoint Catholics to any position. In spite of the support provided to McKinley when he ran for governor of Ohio in 1893, the APA spread rumors that he was a member of the Roman Catholic Church, that he took advice from the Catholic bishop of Columbus, and that he had two children in a convent. McKinley was elected president despite the rumors. The APA suffered internal disputes over endorsing McKinley and the organization began losing members because of the dissension.

Membership of the APA involved secret rituals. New members were required to swear a number of oaths while blindfolded. These oaths included promises not to employ a Catholic worker if a Protestant was available and not to go on strike with Catholics. The blindfold was then removed because the member had left “mental darkness,” and he took a final vow. This vow included a denunciation of Roman Catholicism and the pope, and a pledge to protect the order and its members. The secret oath became public in an expose published in the St. Paul (Minnesota) Globe in 1893. The U.S. Congress also proposed to investigate the APA after a former congressman, Henry M. Youmans of Michigan, claimed that his opponent in the 1892 election was a member of the organization. According to Youmans, membership in the APA invalidated his opponent’s candidacy for Congress.

To build public support for their cause, members of the APA spread propaganda about Catholic goals for America. A pastoral letter, allegedly written by U.S. Catholic bishops, advocated the creation of a

Catholic political party and suggested that education and true faith were not compatible. A forged papal encyclical entitled “Instructions to Catholics” called on Catholics to take over the U.S. government because Protestants had forfeited all right to the country. According to the encyclical, the Catholic uprising was to take place “on or about the feast of Ignatius Loyola [31 July] in the year of our Lord, 1893,” or on the date of the convening of the Catholic Congress at the Chicago World’s Fair, 5 September. In the course of the uprising, Catholics were to exterminate all heretics (i.e., non-Catholics) found in the United States.

The American Protective Association became largely moribund by 1900. The organization did not completely disappear until 1911 with the death of its founder and leader, Henry Bowers. Throughout its existence, no record exists of violence against Catholics by members of the APA, but the group was effective in making many Americans fearful of the Catholic Church. Although the APA ceased to exist, anti-Catholicism continued in the United States through the early decades of the 1900s.

Thomas Hutchinson was the colonial governor of Massachusetts at the outbreak of the American Revolution. Between 1765 and 1774, he came to symbolize those loyal to Britain in Massachusetts.

Warren Hierl

What was the Tuskegee Institute Apush?

A normal and industrial school led by Booker T. Washington in Tuskegee, Alabama. It focused on training young black students in agriculture and the trades to help them achieve economic independence.

What is a bird of passage Apush?

Known as “birds of passage,” many of these eastern and southern European migrants were peasants who had lost their property as a result of the commercialization of agriculture. They came to America to earn enough money to allow them to return home and purchase a piece of land.

What is the APA Apush?

American Protective Association (APA), in U.S. history, an anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant group that briefly acquired a membership greater than 2,000,000 during the 1890s. It was a secret society that played upon the fears of rural Americans about the growth and political power of immigrant-populated cities.

What was the primary goal of the American Protective Association?

The American Protective Association was formed on March 13, 1887 by Henry Francis Bowers, in the city of Clinton, Iowa. Its main purpose in forming was to fight what the members saw as the threat Roman Catholicism posed for the United States.

Why was the American Protective Association important?

Significance: The American Protective Association was one of several American organizations created to counter the growing presence and influence of Roman Catholic immigrants in the United States. Its purpose was to defend “true Americanism” and fight the growing power of the Catholic Church in America.

What group of people were the target of the American Protective Association?

The American Protective Association (APA) was an American anti-Catholic secret society established in 1887 by Protestants. The organization was the largest anti-Catholic movement in the United States during the later part of the 19th century, showing particular regional strength in the Midwest.

What was the secret oath of the American Protective Association?

I do most solemnly promise and swear that I will always, to the utmost of my ability, labor, plead, and wage a continuous warfare against ignorance and fanaticism; that I will use my utmost power to strike the shackles and chains of blind obedience to the Roman Catholic church from the hampered and bound consciences of …

What were the American Protective Association and Immigration Restriction League?

The American Protective Association, founded in 1887, sought to check Catholic political power and defend the public school system, while the Immigration Restriction League, founded in 1894 by race-conscious Boston Brahmins, campaigned for a literacy test to exclude ”new” immigrants.

What was the bird of passage?

“Birds of passage,” also known as round-trippers, were usually young male immigrants who intended to make money in the United States and then return to their native countries. After leaving their families behind they traveled to the United States in search of employment, most often during the summer.

What was the yellow press quizlet?

also called yellow journalism, a term used to describe the sensationalist newspaper writings of the time of the Spanish American war. They were written on cheap yellow paper.

For what was the yellow press period named quizlet?

also called yellow journalism, a term used to describe the sensationalist newspaper writings of the time of the Spanish American war. They were written on cheap yellow paper. The most famous yellow journalist was William Randolph Hearst.

What were the goals of the yellow press quizlet?

Sensationalism is a method of writing or journalism that adds to the excitement of something in lurid (super tantalizing) way. He used yellow journalism in competition with Hearst to sell more newspapers. He also achieved the goal of becoming a leading national figure of the Democratic Party.

Which was a significant result of yellow journalism quizlet?

Yellow journalism is a style of writing that exaggerates the news to lure readers. A result of yellow journalism would be that the sinking of the U.S.S. Maine started the Spanish American War, even though Spain didn’t sink the ship.

What was a result of the yellow journalism?

Yellow journalism was a style of newspaper reporting that emphasized sensationalism over facts. During its heyday in the late 19th century it was one of many factors that helped push the United States and Spain into war in Cuba and the Philippines, leading to the acquisition of overseas territory by the United States.

Which best describes the practice of yellow journalism?

Yellow journalism, the use of lurid features and sensationalized news in newspaper publishing to attract readers and increase circulation. The phrase was coined in the 1890s to describe the tactics employed in the furious competition between two New York City newspapers, the World and the Journal.

Who is called the father of yellow journalism and why was he called this quizlet?

• William Randolph Hearst. http://www.spanamwar.com/Hearst.htm William Randolph Hearst was called the “father of Yellow Journalism,” because of Hearst’s powerful articles pushed many Americans towards war with Spain. He incited the war.

Who is called the father of yellow journalism Why?

William Hearst is considered the “Father of Yellow Journalism” due to his articles about Spain which created public outcry and may have lead to the Spanish-American War.

What were some of the causes that led President McKinley to send the USS Maine to Havana Harbor?

Why did President McKinley send the USS Maine to Havana in January 1898? Spanish ambassador to the U.S. whose intercepted letter criticized President McKinley, fueling anti-Spanish feelings in the U.S….

• Exaggerated stories of Spanish atrocities in Cuba.
• De Lome letter.
• Sinking of the USS Maine.

Why had President William McKinley sent the USS Maine to the port of Havana?

The USS Maine was sent to Havana harbor to protect American interests in Cuba as the relationship with Spain deteriorated. When the USS Maine exploded, Americans immediately blamed Spain. Ultimately, pressure increased on President McKinley to declare war on Spain. This declaration of war occurred in April 1898.

Why did the United States send the USS Maine to Cuba?

The sinking of the Maine incited United States’ passions against Spain, eventually leading to a naval blockade of Cuba and a declaration of war. Ostensibly on a friendly visit, the Maine had been sent to Cuba to protect the interests of Americans there after riots broke out in Havana in January.

Why was the United States able to defeat Spain so quickly?

Why was the United States able to defeat Spain so quickly? The Spanish had been worn down by war with the Cubans. The United States was motivated to begin pursuing an imperialist agenda at the end of the nineteenth century because the country… was producing more manufactured goods than its population could use.

What country did Spain surrender to the US in exchange for $20 million?

cession of the Philippines

Why did the US pay Spain $20 million?

Spanish commissioners argued that Manila had surrendered after the armistice and therefore the Philippines could not be demanded as a war conquest, but they eventually yielded because they had no other choice, and the U.S. ultimately paid Spain 20 million dollars for possession of the Philippines.

How much did America pay Spain for the Philippines?

That same month, the United States and Spain began their peace negotiations in Paris. The Treaty of Paris was signed on December 10, 1898. By the Treaty, Cuba gained its independence and Spain ceded the Philippines, Guam and Puerto Rico to the United States for the sum of US$20 million.

Why did the US buy the Philippines from Spain?

Americans who advocated annexation evinced a variety of motivations: desire for commercial opportunities in Asia, concern that the Filipinos were incapable of self-rule, and fear that if the United States did not take control of the islands, another power (such as Germany or Japan) might do so.