"The Popes Stone" The Anti-Catholic view in America

On March 6th, 1854 a unknown amount of assailants charged the building site of the soon to be Washington Monument in Washington D.C. The group who was later to be associated with their Anti-Catholic views known as the "Know Nothing" party charged the site to capture what many have come to call the "Popes Stone". This stone was 18 inches long and 10 inches wide, it was donated to the United States from Pope Pius XI. The Stone just like many other stones were housed in a shed on the work site, this stone was suppose to be placed in the monument along with others from other countries honoring our First President George Washington. But the group that decided to take this stone believed that it was a massive conspiracy that they believed that this stone was the  first step toward a  society that was going to answer to the Pope. This was at a time when America was taking in a lot of Irish immigrants, who were profoundly Catholic. The Story goes on from here in a famous Pamphlet created by John F. Weishampel calling for the stone to not be placed in the monument. Just like many of his readers Weishampel was a Protestant and feared that the stone was a serious move by the American government to allow the Pope to assume control over America where all Americans answer to the Pope.
The group managed to subdue the guards and tie them up, they also poisoned the guard dog (poor thing). they managed to find the shed where all the stones from the different countries. They found the one the pope had sent, they grabbed sledge hammers and smashed it up. They then took all the pieces and put them in a row boat on the Potomac river, which is yards away from the monument. They then rowed to the center of the river and tossed the pieces over board. To this day the stone has never been found or recovered from the river.  Also in 1855 members of the "Know Nothing" party assumed control of the contract to finish building the Monument. Once the group assumed control they stop building almost immediately. Then once the Civil War kicked off the monument remained unfinished until after the war, if you visit the site today you see the distinct dis color of the stones. to this day no one knows who stole the stone or whatever happened to the original. But we do know that at the time of the 1850s many Americans did not like catholics and today we still see the same kind of backlash to certain immigrant groups, such as Middle Eastern Peoples and their connection to Islam. So you be the judge is it just American culture to hate outsiders coming in or is it in our blood to remain so loyal to the thought of separation of Church and State.

sources: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1978/06/01/the-popes-stone-mystery-is-the-evidence-in-smithsonian/83068f83-6a28-4fdf-b14a-9f23d9f4d505/?utm_term=.20d8b7eb75a6
https://archive.org/details/popesstratagemro00weis