In spite of the exacting and severe routine of the Round Hill School, Bancroft contributed frequently to the "North American Review" and to Walsh's "American Quarterly"; he also made a translation of Heeren's work on "The Politics of Ancient Greece". In 1826 he published an oration in which he advocated universal suffrage and the foundation of the state on the power of the whole people. In 1830, without his knowledge, he was elected to the Massachusetts legislature, but refused to take his seat, and the next year he declined a nomination, though certain to have been elected, for the state senate.