Daily American Organ Archive

The Daily American Organ was published in Washington, D.C., by An Association for Native Americans and ran from November 13, 1854 to November 14, 1856. As a platform for the American Party, also referred to as the Know-Nothings, the paper was printed every afternoon Monday through Saturday, and a weekly edition, the Weekly American Organ, was printed every Monday morning. The paper's slogan, "The perpetuation of American freedom is our object; American rights our motto; and the American Party our cognomen," appeared underneath the masthead. A prospectus printed in the first issue predicted a new era of patriotism in the United States, one in which the American Party would take on the "manifold evils that have come upon us," which were due to the "disastrous operation of our laws of naturalization." The Daily American Organ as a forum for political discussion was important to the formalization of the American Party's stances during election cycles. Restricting immigration was of primary importance; the party was against allowing immigrants the right to vote or hold public office, and was for instituting a 21-year naturalization period. The American Party reached the height of its popularity in the 1850s.

The editor of the Daily American Organ was Vespasian Ellis, a judge, Chargé d'affaires to Venezuela, and president of the Missouri Native American Association. Ellis was active in political debate, and his writing appeared in other newspapers local and afar. He also served as editor of two St. Louis papers, the Old School Democrat and the Native American Bulletin. Ellis retired as editor of the Daily American Organ for a short period in 1855 due to illness; William M. Burwell served as editor during this time. The Daily American Organ ceased publication in November 1856, but the weekly edition continued until Ellis offered the American Organ up for sale in May 1857. In addition to its political content, the Daily American Organ printed local, national, and international news stories, and a substantial amount of the four-page layout was devoted to advertisements. In the first issue, the Association claimed that daily circulation would surpass all papers printed in Washington city, and that weekly subscribers would number over one hundred thousand across several states. However, specific circulation information is unknown.