ShmoopTube

00:00

[ musical flourish ]

00:03

And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by religious intolerance,

00:07

or intestinal discomfort following a church picnic.

00:11

Yeah. You'll get where we're going with that in a minute.

00:14

Okay. At the same time as minstrel shows

00:17

were gaining popularity in the 1830s to 1850s,

00:21

Catholic immigrants to the United States were... what?

00:25

And here are your potential answers.

00:26

[ explosion ]

00:28

[ mumbles ]

00:30

All right.

00:31

Well, the popularity of minstrel shows came at the

00:34

same time as an increase in nativism,

00:37

which is the idea that non-natives

00:39

threaten the stability and integrity of a country.

00:42

In other words - if you look different from me, you must be my enemy.

00:46

Well, let's see which of these answers best describes

00:49

how that idea could've impacted Catholic immigrants.

00:52

In the 1830s to 1850s,

00:54

were Catholic immigrants to the U.S. A -

00:57

welcomed for their expertise in high-skilled jobs?

01:01

Well, actually, most of the immigrants were often low-skilled individuals

01:04

escaping oppression in Germany, Ireland, Britain, and Scandinavia.

01:07

Which means they also weren't entirely from Latin America.

01:11

So that eliminates A and D.

01:13

Could Catholic immigrants have B -

01:15

united with Protestants against non-white immigrants?

01:18

Well even though these groups were both part of the Christian church,

01:21

the most intense anti-Catholic sentiment

01:23

came from the Protestants in the United States.

01:26

So much for love and charity.

01:28

That means that Catholic immigrants were C -

01:30

accused of being slaves to the Pope and were discriminated against.

01:34

Even though America was originally

01:36

founded by individuals escaping religious persecution,

01:40

Catholic immigrants suffered severe discrimination

01:42

and violence when they arrived in this country.

01:44

So the answer is C. In fact,

01:46

native-born Americans went so far

01:48

as to accuse Catholic immigrants of being

01:51

loyal first and foremost to the Pope.

01:54

Talk about being a slave to your beliefs.

Full Transcript