The Know-Nothing Party, the 1920s KKK, and elements of the Tea Party: historical parallels?

[YoungDemCA]

One thing that I enjoy searching for in American history are patterns or parallels between the past and the present. One particular area of interest to me is the infamous Know-Nothing Party or movement dating from roughly the middle part of the 19th century, and how it compares and contrasts to the 1920s variant of the Ku Klux Klan (which have membership in the millions at one point),a s well as certain elements of the contemporary Tea Party (e.g. the "Birther" movement).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Know_Nothing

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan#Second_Klan:_1915.E2.80.931944

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama_citizenship_conspiracy_theories

One commonality I have noticed between all three groups is their blatant xenophobia (and racism, for that matter), and their exclusionary views of who is a "real American." From that, flows the conspiratorial thinking about those they consider "Other" or "foreign" or "not-American" who are "taking over the country."

However, that begs the question: Where does all that fear come from?

I think it comes from the reality of demographic, social, cultural, and economic change, and the historically dominant group's fears of becoming a less-powerful minority group in their own country. Historically, these nativist, racist, xenophobic movements have always reached their zenith at a time of rapid changes in the country - again, demographic, social, cultural, and economic change. The fear is that those changes will sooner or later, eventually translate to political changes that will adversely affect the dominant group. It's their fear that they will lose their traditional monopoly on power in "their" country.

These are just some of my thoughts. I'm curious to read what others here think!