The "Know-Nothings" is a name applied to an anti-Catholic, nativist movement of the mid-nineteenth century United States. Early groups were often formed as secret societies; when asked about their activities, members would reply only "I know nothing," lending them the nickname. The movement's chief public face was the American Party, the result of the merging and reorganization of smaller regional parties. At its height the American Party assumed a number of state and local offices and worked in occasional coalition with the Whigs, notably Millard Fillmore. However, immigration ultimately proved less compelling an issue than slavery, the party disintegrated when Southern delegates submitted a resolution calling for the maintenance of slavery, and the American Party ceased as a national force after the election of 1856.