A True AmericanThis book argues that nativism, the hostility especially to Catholic immigrants that led to the organization of political parties like the Know Nothings, affected the meaning of nineteenthcentury American art in ways that have gone unrecognized. In an era of industrialization, nativisms erection of barriers to immigration appealed to artisans, a category that included most male artists at some stage in their careers. But as importantly, its patriotic