ons were generally adverse to the
Democrats. The slavery agitation at the North, intensified by the
passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, resulted in a large number of
Free-Soil candidates and "anti-Nebraska" Whigs being elected to the
House. In the West and South, the "Know-nothing" movement had arisen as
in a single night, and with secrecy and strength had asserted itself on
election day. The consequence was that the Democratic majority in the
House which had been elected with Franklin Pierce now disappeared. The
years of 1854-55 were full of uncertainty in Georgia. The old-line
Whigs, who had broken away from their party associates upon the
nomination of General Scott for President, had not yet gone into full
affiliation with the Democrats. Many of these men joined the "American
party," which had arisen out of antagonism to the large foreign
population flowing into the States and Territories. This party put out
candidates for Congress and the State offices in Georgia.

To Alexander H. Stephens, more than to any other man, was due the honor
of breaking up the Know-nothing movement in Georgia. Amazed at the
rapidity with which this party organized and the completeness with which
it worked; repudiating the principles which it held and the
proscriptions which it enforced, Alexander Stephens announced, early in
the day, that he would not be a candidate for reelection to Congress. He
declared, in a letter, that, from the secrecy of the order, he was
unable to know what they were doing, and, as political principles should
come out in the open sunlight for inspection, he could not submit his
candidacy to any such concern. He did not hesitate to condemn the
practices and creed of the American party in public. Prominent leaders
in his district who recognized his ability made it known that they were
willing to support him, if he would not be so severe in his
denunciations. Mr. Stephens promptly replied that the crisis required
the knife, not the poultice. However, he did run for Congress and scored
the secret order on every stump in the district. He declared, in a
speech in Augusta, that he "was not afraid of anything on the earth,
above the earth, or below the earth, except to do wrong." Mr. Stephens
was elected. Religious fanaticism and race prejudice received a death
blow in Georgia. "It writhed in pain, and died among its worshipers."

Mr. Toombs had already made himself felt in this campaign. He was in the
shadow of a dome