There isn’t much history about St. Nicholas — the real St. Nicholas.
Is there some reason you do not believe the historical comment about early Americans? They really did not like Catholics at all. There were even some colonies were Catholics were not welcome to live.
People flocked elsewhere. That’s how Maryland became the first Catholic Diocese in the United States.
Is there some reason why you missed my point and instead addressed what it was not? Here's what I noted...the American "Dutch Protestants" were accused of distorting the Catholic legends about St. Nicholas. In other words, the author of the article was asserting that somehow the Protestants didn't have a right to "interpret" the legend about a fourth century saint of whom the author acknowledge very little historical data existed. Does that not seem ironical, if not a little hypocritical? It did to me which is why I posted my thoughts.
As to those poor Catholics and the bad, mean colonists who didn't "like" them or welcome them, you would have to go back to their justifications for why - if they really did, that is. I seem to recall a time when all non-Catholics were in the same boat and not only did the Catholics not like them or welcome them, they persecuted, tortured and murdered them. Can you point to a time where American Catholics were treated in this way here in America? Don't make the mistake of presuming that I'm okay with anyone - especially professing Christians - treating those different than them in a harsh or demeaning way, because I'm not. I just think people need to look at the whole picture to understand the whys and wherefores of the actions early Americans took in the process of establishing this new country. The sixteenth century was when the Reformation happened and the aftermath of that influenced the religious ideas that got carried over to America.