The Creation Of The Free Soil Party

The individual that I chose isn’t one person but a group of individuals who were disgruntle politician who were anti slavery supports known as The Free Soil Party. The party consisted of various parties including the Democrats, Whigs the liberty party and New York State anti-slavery group call Barnburner. The Free Soil Party was a short-lived political party in the United States active in the 1848 and 1852 presidential elections, and in some state elections. This Party was founded in Buffalo, New York it was a third party that largely appealed to and drew its great strength from New York State. The issue that I chose was The Wilmot Provision, which was an amendment that was attached to requests for funding from the government that prompted
the conversation about antislavery expansion in newly, acquired territory from Mexico War. The Free Soil Party wanted the new territories that were acquired by the United States to remain free states. The Free Soil Party stood for “free soil, free speech, free labor, and free men. The Free Soil Party a political movement of the 1840’s that opposed the expansion of slavery in the Untied States.
They wanted farm families to settle the western territories and install democratic republican values and institutions there. Motivating its members –mostly white yeomen farmers was their belief that slavery benefited “aristocratic men”. The Wilmot Proviso of 1846 was an event that prompted the creation of The Free Soil Party. The Wilmot Proviso was a bold attempt by opponents of slavery to prevent its introduction in the territories purchased from Mexico following the Mexico War. The Proviso never passed through Congress, but it did ignite an intense national debate over slavery that led to the creation of the antislavery Republican Party in 1854. The Mexican War was fueled by the desire to annex Texas. President Polk asked congress for 2 million to help negotiate peace and settle the boundary with Mexico. David Wilmot attached his proposal The Wilmot Proviso to President Polk’s funding measure, which would prohibit slavery in the new territories acquired from Mexico, including California. This injected the controversial slavery issue into the funding debate, the House approved the bill and sent it to the Senate for
action. The Senate did not discuss the issue and when the next Congress meeting a new appropriations bill for 3 million was presented and again the Wilmot Proviso was attached to the measure and the House passed the bill and the Senate was forced to consider the proposal.
Senator John C Calhoun of South Carolina and other proslavery senators refused to accept the Wilmot amendment and only approved the funds without the proviso. Several years the Wilmot Proviso was presented, as an amendment to various bills but the Senate never approved it.
The constant introduction of the proviso kept the issue of slavery before the Congress and the nation. With the amendment being attached to the different appropriation bills David Wilmot was able to publicized the issue of slavery to national politics and public debate by avoiding the 1836”Gag Rule” which had suppressed all discussion in Congress of issues relating to slavery.
The Free Soil Party pledged to support the Wilmot Proviso and they showed some success in wooing the abolitionist vote in elections.
There were major issues for the party included admission of the state of California as a free state and the passing of the Wilmot Proviso in the Senate. It did have an effect among the Southern planters became fearful that they would lose the “right” to hold slaves and that the federal government would essentially take their property without reimbursement. The Compromise of 1850, left the issue of slavery up to the citizens of the new acquired states.
In conclusion the free soil concept achieves significant popular support because it stressed protection of the white economic opportunity and became the Republican Party. The Wilmot Proviso did put anti-slavery on the forefront of conversation in Congress.