The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 72, July 1968 - April, 1969 Page: 451
498 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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James P. Newcomb: The Making of a Radical
join him in publishing the San Antonio Herald, which first appeared
on April 3, 1855.-
Newcomb became an editor during a critical time in state and na-
tional politics. Heated arguments over slavery and the Union, the col-
lapse of the Whig Party, and the gradual deterioration of the Demo-
cratic Party were combining to produce dramatic shifts in party
alignment. One result of this upheaval was the emergence of a new
coalition, the American, or Know-Nothing, Party, which took shape
in the 185o's. This party, as W. Darrell Overdyke had indicated, hoped
to avoid, or at least to ease, sectional friction by "uniting the peoples
of the country on new issues," particularly the alleged dangers of
unrestricted immigration and Roman Catholicism." By focusing atten-
tion on these issues, the American Party hoped to forestall a drastic or
disruptive solution to the problem of slavery. Since the party's prin-
cipal objective was to preserve the Union, support of the Know-
Nothings, particularly in the South, was a valid indication of Union
sentiment." Newcomb lent the slight but occasionally strident voice
of the Alamo Star to this party soon after its organization in Texas in
1854, because he believed fervently in preservation of the Union. After
the Star ceased publication, its successor the Herald also supported the
party. These papers backed Know-Nothing candidates in local, state,
and national elections.
Newcomb's support of the Know-Nothings rested on the conviction
that only the American Party could protect the country from the
subversive forces that threatened the Union: immigration, Roman
Catholicism, and abolitionism. Like most southern Know-Nothings,
the young editor hoped to silence the abolitionists by convincing
them that "the anti-slavery fanaticism of the North" would produce
nothing but sectional dissension and perhaps even dissolution of the
7From March until October, 1854, Newcomb had a partner to help with the publication
of the Alamo Star, first Frank L. Whitemond and then Robert J. Lambert. Newcomb
served as senior editor. San Antonio Alamo Star, March 25, July 15, October 21, 1854.
After entering into partnership with West, Newcomb served as junior editor of the
Herald, which continued the editorial policies of the Star. Since Newcomb endorsed all
tenets of the American Party and because of the impossibility of determining which
editorials he wrote, I have simply assumed that Newcomb agreed with all editorials in
the Herald. San Antonio Herald, April 3, December 26, 1855. For an example of New-
comb's support of Know-Nothingism, see Newcomb to Fielding Jones, July 13, 1856, copy
in Diary of James P. Newcomb (Newcomb Papers, Archives, University of Texas Library).
8W. Darrell Overdyke, The Know-Nothing Party in the South (Baton Rouge, 1950), 292.
'Ibid.; Frank H. Smyrl, "Unionism in Texas, 1856-1861," Southwestern Historical Quar-
terly, LXVIII (October, 1964), 172; Ralph A. Wooster, "An Analysis of the Texas Know
Nothings," ibid., LXX (January, 1967), 423.451
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 72, July 1968 - April, 1969, periodical, 1969; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117146/m1/523/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.