Henry Francis Bowers
Encyclopedia
Henry Francis Bowers was the founder of the American Protective Association
in Clinton, Iowa
. It was staunchly politically anti-Catholic.
Henry Bowers, an attorney, objected to Catholic
involvement in politics. He paradoxically held friendships with Catholics within his community.
His demands for Catholics to remove themselves from politics, was because he saw Catholics as having dual loyalties. To Bowers they could not be both loyal to the United States and a pope
in Rome.
American Protective Association
The American Protective Association, or APA was an American anti-Catholic society similar to the Know Nothings.-History:The APA was founded 13 March 1887 by Attorney Henry F. Bowers in Clinton, Iowa...
in Clinton, Iowa
Clinton, Iowa
Clinton is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 26231as of 2010. Clinton, along with DeWitt, Iowa , was named in honor of the seventh governor of New York, DeWitt Clinton. Clinton is the principal city of the Clinton Micropolitan Statistical...
. It was staunchly politically anti-Catholic.
Henry Bowers, an attorney, objected to Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
involvement in politics. He paradoxically held friendships with Catholics within his community.
His demands for Catholics to remove themselves from politics, was because he saw Catholics as having dual loyalties. To Bowers they could not be both loyal to the United States and a pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
in Rome.
Secondary Scholarly Sources
- Bennett, David H. The Party of Fear: From Nativist Movements to the New Right in American History (1988), ISBN 0807817724.
- Brown, Ira V. Review of Donald L. Kinzer, An Episode in Anti-Catholicism: The American Protective Association (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1964), Pennsylvania History, April 1966.
- Lipset, Seymour Martin and Earl Raab. The Politics of Unreason: Right Wing Extremism in America, 1790-1970 (1970), ISBN 0060126477.
Primary sources
- Humphrey J. Desmond, "The American Protective Association" Catholic Encyclopedia (1911)
- Congressional Record (Washington, October 31, 1893)
- Traynor, in North American Review, volume clix (New York, 1887)
External links
- Protestant Paranoia: The American Protective Association Oath at historymatters.gmu.edu
- 1896: McKinley and the A.P.A. at projects.vassar.edu