Jonathan Banks Jr.

**Jonathan Banks Jr.** was a Speaker of the House, a Governor of North Carolina, and a veteran of the Revolutionary War. Jonathan Banks Jr. was also a prominent business man, being the founder and owner of The Freedom Post and the Banks Organization.

Banks is also remembered as being an avid secessionist and racist, along with being the first President of the Dixieland Confederacy. Banks would also be remembered in his final act, where he tried to shoot and kill President George Washington.

## Political Career

### Governorship

In the 1788 North Carolina Governor Race, Jonathan Banks Jr. was elected as Governor of North Carolina. Banks became Governor in 1789, and he would be Governor during a tumultuous time in North Carolina. Banks himself was against the Constitution, like his Father, Jonathan Banks. Banks would create several innovative reforms, like the Education Act and the Militia Act, but Banks would also support something like the Succession Act, widely criticized as anti-American legislation.

#### Carolinian Schism

In 1789 South Carolina declared war on North Carolina, in what today is known as the Carolinian Schism. Banks would be quick to condemn the south, and would send for an aid request from the Congress, despite not having signed the Constitution. North Carolina would build up it's navy and would unrecognize South Carolina, claiming it to be a part of North Carolina. North Carolina would be able to win some land battles, but faltered at sea, but in Banks v. South Carolina, the Supreme Court would rule the declaration of war unconstitutional, and so ended the Carolinian Schism.

#### Following the Schism

After the Schism North Carolina adopted the Constitution after adding an Amendment to their State Constitution saying they could secede at any time, which was later overturned in United States v. North Carolina along with an Allegiance Act and another State Constitution Amendment which attempted to void the 12th Amendment in the state.

Banks with the legislature would ban duels in the state, which to a huge controversy when John C. Covington would have one in the southern part of the state later that year, and would later focus on development of their western territories, later known as Tennessee. North Carolina would also switch to a popular vote for their Presidents.

#### Secession War

Banks would declare secession from the Union in 1793 after he was ousted as Speaker of the House. Banks would serve as the first President of the Dixieland Confederacy. Banks would attempt to assassinate George Washington, dressing in his wife's clothes and going up to the tent, where Banks would stab Washington 3 times. Nearby guards would shoot Banks dead, one of them being Robert Benckendorf. Washington would be taken back north to recover, and Henry Knox would take up the rest of the war effort.

### House of Representatives

Banks would be elected to the House of Representatives in 1792, and Banks would be elected Speaker soon after, being the only Freedom Party Speaker. After some tension between himself and William Webster, including many racist remarks, Webster staged a walk-out protest. Banks was pissed at the disrespect, and attempted to remove everyone from the Party, which failed, and led to the opposition group electing a new Speaker, Henry Whittleston. 3 days later North and South Carolina would secede, starting the 1st American Civil War.

## Personal Life

On November 2, 1762, Jonathan Banks Jr. was born to Jonathan Banks and Anna Banks. An eccentricity of his birth was that his mother was only 11 when he was born, something highly levied against his father after it was discovered. Banks would marry his wife Linda in 1787, staying with her until his death. Linda would give birth to Jonathan Banks III in 1788, and later Anna Banks in 1791. Banks would die on August 30, 1793 under gunfire from several guards after his failed Washington Assassination Attempt.

* Jonathan Banks III (Born: August 9, 1788)
* Anna Banks (Born: November 27, 1791)