How did the term "nativism" come to be used for an ideology which, in the US, is all about the descendants of colonists and immigrants who massacred and displaced the country's native population? | AskHistorians Archive Observer

How did the term "nativism" come to be used for an ideology which, in the US, is all about the descendants of colonists and immigrants who massacred and displaced the country's native population?

by LorenzoApophis

This thought was prompted by seeing descriptions of the new "America First Caucus" as a nativist movement. While true to the meaning of the word as it's used, it struck me as a strange word to end up with this meaning considering just how non-native to the US anything "Anglo-Saxon" is.

jelvinjs7

More could be said, but you may be interested in this older answer:

The United States was founded, populated and developed by people who were not originally from America. How did anti-immigration sentiment arise from a literal nation of immigrants? How did the idea of America as a melting pot of different cultures develop in spite anti-immigrant sentiment?, featuring answers by /u/aregalsonofabitch, /u/Kayra2, /u/ADHPEE, and more.