Lewis Charles Levin (November 10, 1808 – March 14, 1860) was an American politician, newspaper editor and anti-Catholic social activist. He was one of the founders of the American Party in 1842 and served as a member of the U. S. House of Representatives representing Pennsylvania's 1st congressional district from 1845 to 1851. Levin is considered to be the first Jewish U.S. Congressman, although David Levy Yulee served as a territorial representative from Florida prior to Levin's election to the House. Levin supported the nativist Americanism ideology espoused by some northern Protestants at the expense of Catholics. He was a dynamic orator on temperance and political issues; however, many of his speeches spread xenophobia. Levin played a leading role in inciting the Philadelphia nativist riots which led to the killing of over 20 Irish Americans; the burning of many of their homes; and the destruction of three Catholic churches associated with their community. Early life and education Levin was born on November 10, 1808 in Charleston, South Carolina to parents who had emigrated from England. He graduated from South Carolina College (later the University of South Carolina) in 1828. He worked in a dry goods store in Charleston and became a school master in Cincinnati, Ohio. He briefly taught school in Woodville, Mississippi, but left town after being wounded in a duel. Levin lived in Vicksburg, Mississippi; Nashville, Tennessee and Baltimore, Maryland. He began to refer to him self as L.C. Levin, Esq. and practice law but it is not clear what legal training he received or if he passed the bar. Anti-Catholic activism By 1838 Levin was in Philadelphia and giving public lectures on the evils of alcohol. He founded and edited a journal called the Temperance Advocate and Literary Repository. In 1842 he staged an immense public "bonfire of booze" to draw attention to his campaign against taverns and for local control of liquor licensing. Levin's anti-alcohol crusade proved to be excellent preparation for his next cause, a campaign against Catholic political power, which he carried on as editor of The Daily Sun. Initially, the main political issue was an 1843 public school ruling permitting Catholic children to be excused from Bible-reading class (because the Protestant King James Version was being used). Levin became the leader and chief spokesman for a start-up political movement calling itself the American Republican Party (later the Native American Party). Levin also railed