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Timeline


Timeline

1796

St. Augustine's is founded by Father Matthew J. Carr, O.S.A.

1801

St. Augustine's Church is completed.

1811

St. Augustine's Academy, a secondary school for Catholics, opens.

1830

The "Sister Bell" to the Liberty Bell is transferred by the city of Philadelphia to St. Augustine's Church.

1831

New York Protestant Association forms.

1834

Samuel F.B. Morse writes Foreign Conspiracy Against the Liberties of the Unites States; Nativist mob attacks and burns an Ursuline convent and school in Charlestown, Mass.; St. Michael's dedicated by Bishop Kenrick.

1835

Native American Association forms in New York.

1836

Awful Disclosuresby Maria Monk is printed and sells 300,000 copies.

1837

Native American Association calls for the restriction of immigration, lengthening of naturalization periods, and new taxes for immigrants.

1840

St. Philip de Neri is founded and becomes the tenth Catholic Church in Philadelphia and its neighborhood districts.

1841

New York Public School Society vs. John Hughes; "Belle-Air", the estate of the Rudolph family, is purchased by the Augustinians.

1842

American Protestant Association forms in Philadelphia; Maclay Bill is passes in New York abolishing the private Protestant Society and unifying schools under a new board which allows local schools to select their own books;Bishop Kenrick composes a letter to the school board of Philadelphia in order to seek a resolution for Catholic Bible rights in public schools.

1843

American Republican Party is founded in New York in coalition with the Whig Party; First classes held at Villanova College.

May 3, 1844

Nativists hold rally in Kensington and are driven by the site by angry Irish Catholic locals.

May 6, 1844

Nativists again attempt a rally in Kensington which erupts into rioting.

May 7, 1844

Nativists hold rally in Independence Square followed by continued rioting in Kensington.

May 8, 1844

St. Michael's Church and St. Augustine's Church are burned to the ground by rioters.

May 12, 1844

Bishop Kenrick closes Catholic Churches to Sunday services.

July 4, 1844

Nativists hold parade in the Southwark section of Philadelphia.

July 5-8, 1844

Rioting outside St. Philip de Neri Church in Southwark.

1845

Native American Party hold their first convention in Philadelphia; Villanova closes it doors and does not reopen for class until 1846.

1847

The rebuilt St. Augustine's is completed. The "Sister Bell", which was damaged in the burning of the church, is recast and sent to the Augustinian community at Villanova.

1849

Order of the Star Spangled Banner is founded as a secret society of Nativists in New York City. Goes on to become the Know Nothing Party.

1850

The State Assembly of Philadelphia creates a unified Philadelphia Police District which has authority in the city as well as the outlying districts of Northern Liberties, Spring Garden, and Kensington as well as the townships of Southwark, Moyamensing, and Penn.

1852

Know Nothing Party formerly organizes in New York. Becomes known as the American Party in political circles.

1853

Know Nothings have an estimated one million members in thirty-one states.

1854

An estimated twenty persons are killed in Know Nothing riots in Louisville; The city of Philadelphia is consolidated to include the neighborhoods of Southwark and Kensington.

1855

In Ohio a group of Nativists attempt to fix an election and a riot ensues.

1856

Millard Fillmore nominated for President by the American Party but loses to James Buchanan. The American Party will soon absorb primarily into the Republican Party.

1857

Six people are killed in the Know Nothing riots in Washington D.C.

1860

Abraham Lincoln wins Presidency on the Republican Party ticket.