Editing Nathaniel P. Banks (section)

==Antebellum political career==
{{see also|72nd Massachusetts General Court (1851)|73rd Massachusetts General Court (1852)}}
[[File:Nathaniel Prentice Banks - Southworth and Hawes.jpg|thumb|left|Banks in 1852, portrait by [[Southworth and Hawes]]]]
In 1848, Banks was victorious in another run for the state legislature, successfully organizing elements in Waltham whose votes were not easily controlled by the [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]]-controlled Boston Manufacturing Company.  Company leaders could effectively compel their workers to vote for Whig candidates because there was no [[secret ballot]].{{Sfn|Hollandsworth|1998|pp=10&ndash;11}}  He was at first moderate in opposition to the expansion of slavery, but recognizing the potency of the burgeoning [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionist]] movement, he became more strongly attached to that cause as a vehicle for political advancement.{{Sfn|Hollandsworth|1998|p=12}}  This brought Banks, along with fellow Democrats Rantoul and [[George S. Boutwell]] to form a coalition with the [[Free Soil Party]] that successfully gained control of the legislature and governor's chair. The deals negotiated after the coalition win in the 1850 election put Boutwell in the governor's chair and made Banks the [[List of Speakers of the Massachusetts House of Representatives|Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives]]. Although Banks did not like the radical Free Soiler [[Charles Sumner]] (either personally or for his strongly abolitionist politics), he supported the coalition agreement that resulted in Sumner's election to the [[United States Senate]], despite opposition from conservative Democrats. His role as house speaker and his effectiveness in conducting business raised his status significantly,{{Sfn|Hollandsworth|1998|pp=13&ndash;14}} as did his publicity work for the state Board of Education.{{Sfn|Harrington|1948|p=10}}

===Congress===
In 1852, Banks sought the Democratic nomination for a seat in the [[United States Congress]]. While it was at first granted, his refusal to disavow abolitionist positions meant support was withdrawn by party conservatives. He ended up winning a narrow victory anyway, with Free Soil support.{{Sfn|Hollandsworth|1998|pp=15&ndash;16}}  In 1853, he presided over the state [[Massachusetts Constitutional Convention of 1853|Constitutional Convention of 1853]]. This convention produced a series of proposals for constitutional reform, including a new constitution, all of which were rejected by voters. The failure, which was led by Whigs and conservative anti-abolitionist Democrats, spelled the end of the Democratic-Free Soil coalition.{{Sfn|Hollandsworth|1998|pp=16&ndash;17}}

In Congress, Banks sat on the Committee of Military Affairs. He bucked the Democratic party line by voting against the [[Kansas–Nebraska Act]], which overturned the 1820 [[Missouri Compromise]], using his parliamentary skills in an effort to keep the bill from coming to a vote.{{Sfn|Harrington|1948|pp=18&ndash;21}} Supported by his constituents, he then publicly endorsed the abolitionist cause.{{Sfn|Hollandsworth|1998|pp=20&ndash;21}}  His opposition came despite long stated support for [[Manifest Destiny]] (the idea that the United States was destined to rule the [[North America|North American continent]]), which the bill's proponents claimed it furthered.{{Sfn|Harrington|1948|p=19}} In 1854, he formally joined the so-called [[Know Nothing]] cause, a secretive populist and anti-immigration nativist movement – officially named American Party since 1855. He was renominated for Congress by the Democrats and Free Soilers, and won an easy victory in that year's Know Nothing landslide victory.{{Sfn|Hollandsworth|1998|pp=22&ndash;23}} Banks was, along with [[Henry Wilson]] and Governor [[Henry J. Gardner]], considered one of the political leaders of the Know Nothing movement, although none of the three supported its extreme anti-immigrant positions of many of its supporters.{{Sfn|Harrington|1948|pp=23&ndash;25}}

In 1855, Banks agreed to chair the convention of a new [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] convention, whose platform was intended to bring together antislavery interests from the Democrats, Whigs, Free Soilers, and Know Nothings. When Know Nothing Governor Henry Gardner refused to join in the fusion, Banks carefully kept his options open, passively supporting the Republican effort but also avoiding criticism of Gardner in his speeches. Gardner was reelected.{{Sfn|Hollandsworth|1998|p=24}}  During the summer of 1855, Banks was invited to speak at an antislavery rally in [[Portland, Maine]], his first major speaking opportunity outside Massachusetts.  In the speech, Banks expressed his opinion that the Union did not necessarily need to be preserved, say that under certain conditions it would be appropriate to "let [the Union] slide".  Future political opponents would repeatedly use these words against him, accusing him of "disunionism".{{Sfn|Harrington|1948|p=26}}

At the opening of the [[34th U.S. Congress]] in December 1855, after the Democrats had lost their majority and only made up 35% of the House, representatives from several parties opposed to slavery's spread gradually united in supporting the Know Nothing Banks for [[Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives]]. After the longest speakership contests on record, lasting from December 3, 1855, to February 2, 1856, [[List of Speaker of the United States House of Representatives elections#December 1855 – February 1856|Banks was chosen on the 133rd ballot]], receiving 103 votes out of 214 cast, or five less than an absolute majority.{{Sfn|Hollandsworth|1998|pp=25&ndash;27}} The coalition supporting him was formed by his American Party (known as the Know Nothing Party) and the [[Opposition Party (Northern U.S.)|Opposition Party]], which opposed the Democrats, marking the first form of a coalition in congressional history. This victory was lauded at the time as the "first Republican victory" and "first Northern victory" – although Banks is officially affiliated as Speaker from the American Party – and greatly raised Banks's national profile.{{Sfn|Harrington|1948|p=31}} He gave antislavery men important posts in Congress for the first time, and cooperated with investigations of both the [[Bleeding Kansas|Kansas conflict]] and the [[caning of Charles Sumner]] on the floor of the Senate. Because of his fairness in dealing with the numerous factions, as well his parliamentary ability, Banks was lauded by others in the body, including former Speaker [[Howell Cobb]], who called him "in all respects the best presiding officer [I] had ever seen."{{Sfn|Hollandsworth|1998|p=28}}

Banks played a key role in 1856 in bringing forward [[John C. Frémont]] as a moderate Republican presidential nominee. Because of his success as speaker, Banks was considered a possible presidential contender, and his name was put in nomination by supporters (knowing that he supported Frémont) at the Know Nothing convention, held one week before the Republicans met. Banks then refused the Know Nothing nomination, which went instead to former President [[Millard Fillmore]]. Banks was active on the stump in support of Frémont, who lost the election to [[James Buchanan]]. Banks easily won reelection to his own seat, though Democrats regained control of the House of Representatives.{{Sfn|Hollandsworth|1998|pp=30&ndash;33}} He was not re-nominated for speaker when the 35th Congress convened in December 1857.

===Governor of Massachusetts===
In 1857, Banks ran for [[Governor of Massachusetts]] against the incumbent Gardner. His nomination by the Republicans was contentious, with opposition coming primarily from radical abolitionist interests opposed to his comparatively moderate stand on the issue. After a contentious general election campaign Banks won a comfortable victory.{{Sfn|Hollandsworth|1998|pp=34&ndash;35}}  One key action Banks took in support of the antislavery movement was the dismissal of Judge [[Edward G. Loring]].{{Sfn|Voss-Hubbard|1995|pp=173–174}} Loring had ruled in 1854 that [[Anthony Burns]], a fugitive slave, be returned to slavery under the terms of the [[Fugitive Slave Law of 1850]].{{Sfn|Von Frank|1998|p=1}}  Under the pressure of a public petition campaign spearheaded by [[William Lloyd Garrison]], the legislature passed two Bills of Address, in 1855 and 1856, calling for Loring's removal from his state office, but in both cases Gardner had declined to remove him.  Banks signed a third such bill in 1858.{{Sfn|Voss-Hubbard|1995|pp=173–174}} He was rewarded with significant antislavery support, easily winning reelection in 1858.{{Sfn|Harrington|1948|p=46}}

[[Image:John Albion Andrew by Darius Cobb.jpg|thumb|right|[[John Albion Andrew]] (portrait by Darius Cobb) succeeded Banks as governor.]]
Banks's 1859 reelection was influenced by two significant issues.  One was a state constitutional amendment requiring newly naturalized citizens to wait two years before becoming eligible to vote.  Promoted by the state's Know Nothings, it was passed by referendum in May of that year.  Banks, catering to Know Nothing supporters, supported its passage, although Republicans elsewhere opposed such measures, because they were seeking immigrant votes.{{Sfn|Hollandsworth|1998|pp=37&ndash;38}} The amendment was repealed in 1863.{{Sfn|Baum|1984|p=48}} The other issue was [[John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry]], which more radical Republicans (notably [[John Albion Andrew]]) supported.  Not yet ready for armed conflict, the state voted for the more moderate Banks.{{Sfn|Hollandsworth|1998|pp=37&ndash;38}}  After the election, Banks vetoed a series of bills, over provisions removing a restriction limiting state militia participation to whites.  This incensed the radical abolitionist forces in the legislature, but they were unable to override his vetoes in that year's session, or of similar bills passed in the next.{{Sfn|Harrington|1948|pp=47&ndash;48}}

Banks made a serious bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 1860, but dislike of him by the radicals in the state party harmed him. His failure to secure a majority in the state delegation prompted him to skip the national convention,{{Sfn|Hollandsworth|1998|pp=40&ndash;41}} where he received first-ballot votes as a nominee for [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]].{{Sfn|Harrington|1948|p=48}} His attempt to promote [[Henry L. Dawes]], another moderate Republican, as his successor in the governor's chair also failed: the party nominated the radical Andrew, who went on to win the general election.{{sfn|Pearson|1904|pp=1:119–120,123&ndash;128}} Banks's farewell speech, given with civil war looming, was an appeal for moderation and union.{{Sfn|Harrington|1948|p=52}}

During the summer of 1860, Banks accepted an offer to become a resident director of the [[Illinois Central Railroad]], which had previously employed his mentor Robert Rantoul.{{Sfn|Harrington|1948|p=50}}  Banks moved to [[Chicago]] after leaving office, and was engaged primarily in the promotion and sale of the railroad's extensive lands.{{Sfn|Hollandsworth|1998|p=44}}  He continued to speak out in Illinois against the breakup of the Union.{{Sfn|Harrington|1948|p=52}}