KNOW-NOTHINGS 



3271 



KNOX 



KNOW-NOTHINGS, a political party in the 

 United States, intended to be secret in char- 

 acter, which flourished from 1852 to 1860. It 

 protested against immigration, and for that 

 reason was called also the "American" party; 

 it opposed the Church of Rome, and this prin- 

 ciple alienated voters who otherwise might 

 have joined it. Meetings were in secret, and 

 the measures promoted were never discussed 

 openly; when one not a member asked any 

 question regarding its policies, the reply was, 

 "I don't know." Constant repetitions of this 

 phrase gave the party its popular name. In 

 1854 the Know-Nothings carried Massachusetts 

 and Delaware, polled over 125,000 votes in New 

 York, and gained a considerable following in 

 the South. By coalitions its members merged 

 by the year 1860 with other organizations, prin- 

 cipally with the Republicans and Democrats, 

 on war issues. See POLITICAL PARTIES IN THE 

 UNITED STATES. 



KNOX, nox, HENRY (1750-1806), an Ameri- 

 can general and statesman, who, because of his 

 loyalty, untiring energy and bravery, became 

 one of George Washington's trusted friends. 

 He entered upon a military career at an early 

 age and at the 

 beginning of the 

 Revolutionary 

 War d i s t i n- 

 guished himself as 

 an engineer and 

 artillerist. In 

 1775 he was 

 appointed com- 

 mander of artil- 

 1 e r y and rose 

 rapidly to the 

 rank of major- 

 general. He 

 served under 

 Washington at 

 the battles of 

 Trenton and Princeton and directed the artillery 

 at Brandywine and at Monmouth. For a time 

 he was a member of Washington's staff and 

 was appointed by him to receive the surrender 

 of the British forces in New York state. Knox 

 became Secretary of War in 1785, before the 

 adoption of the Constitution, and in 1789 was 

 appointed to the same office by President 

 Washington. 



KNOX, JOHN (1505-1572), the leading spirit 

 of the Protestant Reformation in Scotland, a 

 man whose fearlessness, resolution and stern 

 convictions of righteousness and of duty made 



HENRY KNOX 

 First Secretary of War of 

 the United States. 



JOHN KXOX 



a lasting impression upon the Scottish people. 

 In the minds of his countrymen, John Knox, 

 more than any other man, shaped the religious 

 individuality of Scotland. He was born at Gif- 

 fordgate, near Haddington. Much obscurity 

 surrounds his 

 early life, but it is 

 supposed that he 

 attended the uni- 

 versities of Glas- 

 gow and of Saint 

 Andrews, though 

 he was a gradu- 

 ate of neither. 

 At some unknown 

 date he was or- 

 dained for the 

 priesthood, but 

 before the year 

 1544 he embraced Protestantism, for at that 

 date he appeared as the friend and companion 

 of the famous Scotch reformer, George Wishart. 



In 1546 Wishart was tried 'for heresy and 

 condemned to be burned at the stake by order 

 of Cardinal Beaton, Roman Catholic archbishop 

 of Saint Andrews. Not long afterwards the 

 cardinal was murdered by friends of Wishart, 

 and Knox began his career as a leader in the 

 Reformation by preaching to the Protestants 

 who had taken refuge in the archbishop's castle 

 in Saint Andrews. A year later he was vigor- 

 ously upholding the new doctrines as pastor of 

 the parish church in the town, but his activi- 

 ties were cut short in July, 1547, when Saint 

 Andrews surrendered to a French fleet. 



With others, Knox was captured, and for 

 nearly two years was kept a prisoner on board 

 the French galleys. In f549 he was set at 

 liberty at the request of King Edward VI of 

 England, and, having taken up his residence 

 in England, was appointed one of the king's 

 chaplains. He then took a leading part in the 

 English Reformation and was active as a 

 preacher until the accession of the Catholic 

 Queen Mary drove him to the Continent in 

 1554. In 1556 he became pastor of the English 

 church at Geneva, Switzerland, where he re- 

 mained for three years. 



The year 1559, the date of his return to 

 Scotland, marks the beginning of a career of 

 triumph for Knox, At Perth, where he 

 preached a stirring sermon on the "Idolatry of 

 the Mass," the people were roused to such a 

 pitch that they attacked the churches, over- 

 turned altars, broke the images and destroyed 

 monasteries. The flames of the religious revo- 



