1855 SAM SONG Know-Nothing Party American Political Campaign Sheet Music

Date: 1955
Artist: Sarony & Co.
Size (in): 13" x 10"
Size (cm): 33 x 25.4
Condition: B
Linen backed: No

This very rare piece of 19th century American political campaign sheet music was created for the little remembered Know-Nothing Party which was ascendant briefly in the 1850s. This sheet music is eight pages including the covers and features a patriotic chromolithographic cover of the party’s mascot - Uncle Sam’s Youngest Son, Citizen Know-Nothing. The front cover of the sheet music indicates Words and Music by J.B. Bacon and has an 1855 copyright by the publisher Horace Waters of No. 333 Broadway in New York City. The front cover also indicates “Lith. Of Sarony & Co., N.Y.” and shows a price of 35 cents.

The Know-Nothings emerged as a primarily nativist anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic political movement following the decline and collapse of the Whig Party in the United States. The Order of the Star Spangle Banner was a nativist anti-Catholic oath bound secret society organized in 1849 that also served as an impetuous for the rise of the Know-Nothing political party in the 1850s. Various accounts describe the Know-Nothings as ardent believers of conspiracy theories who frequently used violence and promoted fake news to advance their anti-immigrant political agenda and influence. Stop me if you have heard this one before…

This antique original sheet music is fully complete and was removed from a bound volume. The front cover shows some toning from age and inside pages have some foxing in places. Overall condition is very good for this scarce piece of 19th century American political sheet music.