<P> London was notorious for its xenophobia in the 16th century, and conditions worsened in the 1580s . Many immigrants became disillusioned by routine threats of violence and molestation, attempts at expulsion of foreigners, and the great difficulty in acquiring English citizenship . Dutch cities proved more hospitable, and many left London permanently . </P> <P> Regarding the Irish in 20th - century Great Britain, Lucassen (2005) argues the deep religious divide between the Protestants and Catholics was at the core of the ongoing estrangement of the Irish in British society . </P> <P> In the United States, nativism has a long history . The term was first used by 1844, according to the Oxford English Dictionary (under "Nativism") 1844: Whig Almanac 1845 4 / 2 "Thousands were Naturalized expressly to oppose Nativism, and voted the Polk ticket mainly to that end ." </P> <P> For a while Benjamin Franklin was hostile to Germans in colonial Pennsylvania, but he reversed himself and became a supporter . The Federalist Party in 1798 passed the Alien and Sedition Acts which lengthened the citizenship process to 14 years to weaken the political role of radical immigrants from France and Ireland . This became a major political issue in the 1800 election; the Jeffersonians won . They welcomed immigrants and repealed most of the restrictions . </P>

When did nativism rose in the united states