How Did The Wilmot Proviso Lead To The Civil War

The Wilmot Proviso, and the question of whether to allow the expansion of slavery, gave the nation’s political parties a new focus, and inspired the establishment of new political factions. In the election of 1848, the Democrats and the Whigs were both split over the issue of expanding slavery. Factions in support of the Wilmot Proviso clustered together, and formed the Free Soil Party. Northerners had become increasingly suspicious of the Union, and believed that the Federal Government was run by an aggressive slave power—proslavery congressmen. The Free Soil Party pledged to resist such congressmen, and their suspected will to spread slavery into the west. With the introduction of the Free Soil Party, the Whigs and the Democrats were
The Whigs won the election; however, the Free Soil Party, and their anti-slavery values, caught the eye of America to a degree that no social or economic factor had. Again, westward expansion would set the scene for political upheaval, when California’s statehood threatened the balance of power. The argument exposed the intensifying resentment between the North and South, and publically portrayed the speed at which the nation was moving toward a civil war. A great pacifist known as Henry Clay offered a compromise that, like the Missouri compromise, would solve short term issues but change the views of citizens toward the Union in a detrimental manner. Clay’s compromise of 1850 marked the first of many political advancements of the decade. Briefly, the compromise stated that California would be admitted, by congress, as a free state, but Congress would then protect slavery, by passing Fugitive Slave Laws—laws that slaves, who escaped to the North, must be given back, and northern citizens had an obligation to do so—and the territories of Utah and New Mexico solve the issue of slavery by popular
The Compromise of 1850, as well as, the policies that extended from it, caused political upheaval, which would soon spark the Civil War. The first political change was the disintegration of the Whig party. Next, was the formation of a weak political party, known as the Know-Nothings. The Most important political change, of the decade, was the introduction of the Republican Party. The opposition of slavery was central to the Republican Party. The election of 1856 was won by the Democrats, who favored a less strong central government, and were overall divided on the issue of slavery. The Republican Party, however, won one third of the popular vote, and 11 of the northern states, marking their arrival as a powerhouse in Congress. The Republican Party would soon take a giant step towards popular vote when the Supreme Court ruled against Dred Scott, a slave suing for his freedom, as he was being held as a slave, within the free state of Illinois. Essentially, the ruling stated that slaves could exist anywhere within the Union, and that, effectively, there was no such thing as a free state. This alarmed the northern states. The Republican Party and their endeavor to end slavery became widely supported in the North. Two great political figures emerged, by the close of the decade, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. Both become famous through their debates with each other, and so did