Romanism

Romanism is a derogatory term for Roman Catholicism^[2] used when anti-Catholicism was more common in the United States.^{[citation needed]} The word was first attested in 1603.^[2]

The term was frequently used in late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century Republican invectives against the Democrats, as part of the slogan "Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion" (referencing the Democratic Party's constituency of Southerners and anti-Temperance, frequently Catholic, working-class immigrants).^{[citation needed]} A book titled "The Three Keys to Hell; or, Rum, Romanism and Ruin" was published in 1915.^[3] The term and slogan gained particular prominence in the 1884 presidential campaign^{[citation needed]} and again in 1928, in which the Democratic candidate was the outspokenly anti-Prohibition Catholic Governor of New York Al Smith.^{[citation needed]}

In Northern Ireland, the term was also used by Democratic Unionist Party founder Ian Paisley in anti-Catholic speeches.^[4]