Know Nothing Party nominates Millard Fillmore

Background. By 1854, the informal Know Nothing movement had coalesced into the American Party, attracting former Whigs and Democrats. The party achieved significant electoral success in 1854, influencing politics in several states. Fillmore was encouraged by these results and joined the order in 1855. He had previously sent a letter warning against immigrant influence in elections, stating the American Party was the only hope for a truly national party that ignored the agitation of slavery.

Convention Proceedings. The American National Convention was held in National Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from February 22 to 25, 1856. The party nominated former President Millard Fillmore as its presidential candidate. Seventy Northern delegates left the 1856 convention to create the North American Party after a resolution calling for the repeal of the Kansas-Nebraska Act was defeated. The previous year, Henry Wilson had led Northern delegates out of the party's 1855 national council in protest of a plank endorsing the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Fillmore's Stance. Despite the party's emphasis on anti-immigration and anti-Catholic policies, Fillmore said little about immigration during the 1856 election. He focused on the preservation of the Union. Fillmore had kept quiet about his membership in the party and personally refrained from supporting the Know Nothing movement's activities and ideology. His association with the Know Nothings looks far worse in retrospect, though he was not motivated by nativism.