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"Pure Americanism": Building A Modern St. Louis And The Reign Of Know Nothingism, Vanessa Varin

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis will explore the relationship between the rise of the Know Nothing Party and the modernization of St. Louis, the first Western metropolis. By the mid-1850s, two distinct visions of St. Louis existed. On one side of the ideological aisle, Democrats and conservative Whigs cautiously pursued an economic policy that advocated a slow but steady growth in St. Louis’ city infrastructure. But by 1850, a new faction of wealthy Yankee merchants, stirred by dreams of empire and western supremacy, challenged the traditional approach and strategically joined the national Know Nothing movement. Influenced by the intellectual currents of the American …