Editing Schuyler Colfax (section)

===Know Nothing party affiliation===
In 1855, Colfax considered joining the [[Know Nothing Party]] because of the antislavery plank in its platform.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Sharp |first=Walter Rice |date=September 1920 |title=Henry S. Lane and the Formation of the Republican Party in Indiana |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=scMLAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA107 |magazine=The Mississippi Valley Historical Review |location=Bloomington, IN |publisher=Mississippi Valley Historical Association |via=[[Google Books]] |ref={{sfnRef|Sharp}}}}</ref> He was chosen as a delegate to the party's June convention without his knowledge. He had mixed feelings about the party and later denied being a member.{{sfn|Sharp|page=107}} Although he agreed with many of its policies, he disapproved of its secrecy oath and citizenship test.<ref>{{cite book |last=Brand |first=Carl Fremont |author-link=Carl F. Brand |date=1916 |title=The History of the Know Nothing Party in Indiana |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dG03AQAAMAAJ |location=Bloomington, IN |publisher=Indiana University |page=74 |via=[[Google Books]] |ref={{sfnRef|Brand}}}}</ref> By the time of his 1856 campaign for re-election, the new [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] had become the main anti-slavery party, and Colfax became an early member.{{sfn|Brand|page=74}}