{"id":353,"date":"2015-08-21T17:59:30","date_gmt":"2015-08-21T17:59:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.candelalearning.com\/ushistory1os2xmaster\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=353"},"modified":"2016-08-08T02:00:23","modified_gmt":"2016-08-08T02:00:23","slug":"free-soil-or-slave-the-dilemma-of-the-west","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-tc3-ushistory1os\/chapter\/free-soil-or-slave-the-dilemma-of-the-west\/","title":{"raw":"Free Soil or Slave? The Dilemma of the West","rendered":"Free Soil or Slave? The Dilemma of the West"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-highlight\">\r\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\r\nBy the end of this section, you will be able to:\r\n<ul class=\"im_orderedlist\">\r\n \t<li>Describe the terms of the Wilmot Proviso<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Discuss why the Free-Soil Party objected to the westward expansion of slavery<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Explain why sectional and political divisions in the United States grew<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Describe the terms of the Compromise of 1850<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idm14017744\">The 1848 treaty with Mexico did not bring the United States domestic peace. Instead, the acquisition of new territory revived and intensified the debate over the future of slavery in the western territories, widening the growing division between North and South and leading to the creation of new single-issue parties. Increasingly, the South came to regard itself as under attack by radical northern abolitionists, and many northerners began to speak ominously of a southern drive to dominate American politics for the purpose of protecting slaveholders\u2019 human property. As tensions mounted and both sides hurled accusations, national unity frayed. Compromise became nearly impossible and antagonistic sectional rivalries replaced the idea of a unified, democratic republic.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<section id=\"fs-idp310110112\" data-depth=\"1\">\r\n<h1 data-type=\"title\">THE LIBERTY PARTY, THE WILMOT PROVISO, AND THE ANTISLAVERY MOVEMENT<\/h1>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idp322013248\">Committed to protecting white workers by keeping slavery out of the lands taken from Mexico, Pennsylvania congressman David Wilmot attached to an 1846 revenue bill an amendment that would prohibit slavery in the new territory. The <span data-type=\"term\">Wilmot Proviso<\/span> was not entirely new. Other congressmen had drafted similar legislation, and Wilmot\u2019s language was largely copied from the 1787 Northwest Ordinance that had banned slavery in that territory. His ideas were very controversial in the 1840s, however, because his proposals would prevent American slaveholders from bringing what they viewed as their lawful property, their slaves, into the western lands. The measure passed the House but was defeated in the Senate. When Polk tried again to raise revenue the following year (to pay for lands taken from Mexico), the Wilmot Proviso was reintroduced, this time calling for the prohibition of slavery not only in the Mexican Cession but in all U.S. territories. The revenue bill passed, but without the proviso.<\/p>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idp310119472\">That Wilmot, a loyal Democrat, should attempt to counter the actions of a Democratic president hinted at the party divisions that were to come. The 1840s were a particularly active time in the creation and reorganization of political parties and constituencies, mainly because of discontent with the positions of the mainstream Whig and Democratic Parties in regard to slavery and its extension into the territories. The first new party, the small and politically weak <span data-type=\"term\">Liberty Party<\/span> founded in 1840, was a single-issue party, as were many of those that followed it. Its members were abolitionists who fervently believed slavery was evil and should be ended, and that this was best accomplished by political means.<\/p>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idp63353200\">The Wilmot Proviso captured the \u201cantislavery\u201d sentiments during and after the Mexican War. Antislavery advocates differed from the abolitionists. While abolitionists called for the end of slavery everywhere, antislavery advocates, for various reasons, did not challenge the presence of slavery in the states where it already existed. Those who supported antislavery fervently opposed its expansion westward because, they argued, slavery would degrade white labor and reduce its value, cast a stigma upon hard-working whites, and deprive them of a chance to advance economically. The western lands, they argued, should be open to white men only\u2014small farmers and urban workers for whom the West held the promise of economic advancement. Where slavery was entrenched, according to antislavery advocates, there was little land left for small farmers to purchase, and such men could not compete fairly with slaveholders who held large farms and gangs of slaves. Ordinary laborers suffered also; no one would pay a white man a decent wage when a slave worked for nothing. When labor was associated with loss of freedom, antislavery supporters argued, all white workers carried a stigma that marked them as little better than slaves.<\/p>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idp132375568\">Wilmot opposed the extension of slavery into the Mexican Cession not because of his concern for African Americans, but because of his belief that slavery hurt white workers, and that lands acquired by the government should be used to better the position of white small farmers and laborers. Work was not simply something that people did; it gave them dignity, but in a slave society, labor had no dignity. In response to these arguments, southerners maintained that laborers in northern factories were treated worse than slaves. Their work was tedious and low paid. Their meager income was spent on inadequate food, clothing, and shelter. There was no dignity in such a life. In contrast, they argued, southern slaves were provided with a home, the necessities of life, and the protection of their masters. Factory owners did not care for or protect their employees in the same way.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/section><section id=\"fs-idp1596400\" data-depth=\"1\">\r\n<h1 data-type=\"title\">THE FREE-SOIL PARTY AND THE ELECTION OF 1848<\/h1>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idp18003136\">The Wilmot Proviso was an issue of great importance to the Democrats. Would they pledge to support it? At the party\u2019s New York State convention in Buffalo, Martin Van Buren\u2019s antislavery supporters\u2014called <span data-type=\"term\">Barnburners<\/span> because they were likened to farmers who were willing to burn down their own barn to get rid of a rat infestation\u2014spoke in favor of the proviso. Their opponents, known as Hunkers, refused to support it. Angered, the Barnburners organized their own convention, where they chose antislavery, pro\u2013Wilmot Proviso delegates to send to the Democrats\u2019 national convention in Baltimore. In this way, the controversy over the expansion of slavery divided the Democratic Party.<\/p>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idp18837296\">At the national convention, both sets of delegates were seated\u2014the pro-proviso ones chosen by the Barnburners and the anti-proviso ones chosen by the Hunkers. When it came time to vote for the party\u2019s presidential nominee, the majority of votes were for Lewis Cass, an advocate of popular sovereignty. Popular sovereignty was the belief that citizens should be able to decide issues based on the principle of majority rule; in this case, residents of a territory should have the right to decide whether slavery would be allowed in it. Theoretically, this doctrine would allow slavery to become established in any U.S. territory, including those from which it had been banned by earlier laws.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"390\"]<img src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images-archive-read-only\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/883\/2015\/08\/23202511\/CNX_History_11_05_Barnburner.jpg\" alt=\"A cartoon depicts Martin Van Buren and his son John setting fire to a barn, from which smoke billows. Lewis Cass crouches on the roof, preparing to leap. John exclaims \u201cThat\u2019s you Dad! more \u2018Free Soil.\u2019 We'll rat \u2018em out yet. Long life to Davy Wilmot.\u201d\" width=\"390\" height=\"278\" data-media-type=\"image\/jpeg\" \/> This political cartoon depicts Martin Van Buren and his son John, both Barnburners, forcing the slavery issue within the Democratic Party by \u201csmoking out\u201d fellow Democrat Lewis Cass on the roof. Their support of the Wilmot Proviso and the new Free-Soil Party is demonstrated by John\u2019s declaration, \u201cThat\u2019s you Dad! more \u2018Free-Soil.\u2019 We'll rat \u2018em out yet. Long life to Davy Wilmot.\u201d (credit: Library of Congress)[\/caption]\r\n<p id=\"fs-idp2958832\">Disgusted by the result, the Barnburners united with antislavery Whigs and former members of the Liberty Party to form a new political party\u2014the <span data-type=\"term\">Free-Soil Party<\/span>, which took as its slogan \u201cFree Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor, and Free Men.\u201d The party had one real goal\u2014to oppose the extension of slavery into the territories. In the minds of its members and many other northerners of the time, southern slaveholders had marshaled their wealth and power to control national politics for the purpose of protecting the institution of slavery and extending it into the territories. Many in the Free-Soil Party believed in this far-reaching conspiracy of the slaveholding elite to control both foreign affairs and domestic policies for their own ends, a cabal that came to be known as the <span data-type=\"term\">Slave Power<\/span>.<\/p>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idm257586384\">In the wake of the Mexican War, antislavery sentiment entered mainstream American politics when the new Free-Soil party promptly selected Martin Van Buren as its presidential candidate. For the first time, a national political party committed itself to the goal of stopping the expansion of slavery. The Democrats chose Lewis Cass, and the Whigs nominated General Zachary Taylor, as Polk had assumed they would. On Election Day, Democrats split their votes between Van Buren and Cass. With the strength of the Democratic vote diluted, Taylor won. His popularity with the American people served him well, and his status as a slaveholder helped him win the South.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">Visit the archives of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gilderlehrman.org\/collections\/cf9b8567-219e-45e1-b6a5-854875350310?back=\/mweb\/search%3Fneedle%3Dsmith%2520ingalls\" target=\"_blank\">Gilder Lehrman Institute<\/a> to read an August 1848 letter from Gerrit Smith, a staunch abolitionist, regarding the Free-Soil candidate, Martin Van Buren. Smith played a major role in the Liberty Party and was their presidential candidate in 1848.<\/div>\r\n<\/section><section id=\"fs-idm60863280\" data-depth=\"1\">\r\n<h1 data-type=\"title\">THE COMPROMISE OF 1850<\/h1>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idm246924944\">The election of 1848 did nothing to quell the controversy over whether slavery would advance into the Mexican Cession. Some slaveholders, like President Taylor, considered the question a moot point because the lands acquired from Mexico were far too dry for growing cotton and therefore, they thought, no slaveholder would want to move there. Other southerners, however, argued that the question was not whether slaveholders <em data-effect=\"italics\">would<\/em> want to move to the lands of the Mexican Cession, but whether they <em data-effect=\"italics\">could<\/em> and still retain control of their slave property. Denying them the right to freely relocate with their lawful property was, they maintained, unfair and unconstitutional. Northerners argued, just as fervidly, that because Mexico had abolished slavery, no slaves currently lived in the Mexican Cession, and to introduce slavery there would extend it to a new territory, thus furthering the institution and giving the Slave Power more control over the United States. The strong current of antislavery sentiment\u2014that is, the desire to protect white labor\u2014only increased the opposition to the expansion of slavery into the West.<\/p>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idm252150480\">Most northerners, except members of the Free-Soil Party, favored popular sovereignty for California and the New Mexico territory. Many southerners opposed this position, however, for they feared residents of these regions might choose to outlaw slavery. Some southern politicians spoke ominously of secession from the United States. Free-Soilers rejected popular sovereignty and demanded that slavery be permanently excluded from the territories.<\/p>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idm28780736\">Beginning in January 1850, Congress worked for eight months on a compromise that might quiet the growing sectional conflict. Led by the aged Henry Clay, members finally agreed to the following:<\/p>\r\n\r\n<blockquote id=\"fs-idm95423376\">\r\n<div>1. California, which was ready to enter the Union, was admitted as a free state in accordance with its state constitution.\r\n2. Popular sovereignty was to determine the status of slavery in New Mexico and Utah, even though Utah and part of New Mexico were north of the Missouri Compromise line.\r\n3. The slave trade was banned in the nation\u2019s capital. Slavery, however, was allowed to remain.\r\n4. Under a new fugitive slave law, those who helped runaway slaves or refused to assist in their return would be fined and possibly imprisoned.\r\n5. The border between Texas and New Mexico was established.<\/div><\/blockquote>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idm8843024\">The <span data-type=\"term\">Compromise of 1850<\/span> brought temporary relief. It resolved the issue of slavery in the territories for the moment and prevented secession. The peace would not last, however. Instead of relieving tensions between North and South, it had actually made them worse.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">\r\n<h1 data-type=\"title\">Section Summary<\/h1>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idp69980752\">The acquisition of lands from Mexico in 1848 reawakened debates regarding slavery. The suggestion that slavery be barred from the Mexican Cession caused rancorous debate between North and South and split the Democratic Party when many northern members left to create the Free-Soil Party. Although the Compromise of 1850 resolved the question of whether slavery would be allowed in the new territories, the solution pleased no one. The peace brought by the compromise was short-lived, and the debate over slavery continued.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/assessments.lumenlearning.com\/assessments\/25696\r\n<\/section>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-info\">\r\n<h3>Review Question<\/h3>\r\n<section>\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Describe the events leading up to the formation of the Free-Soil Party.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/section><\/div>\r\n<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-info\">\r\n<h3>Answer to Review Question<\/h3>\r\n<section>\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>At the party\u2019s national convention in 1848, the majority of Democrats voted for a candidate who supported popular sovereignty. A faction of the party was dismayed by this outcome; they opposed popular sovereignty and wanted to restrict the expansion of slavery in order to protect the value of white workers\u2019 labor. They united with antislavery Whigs and former members of the Liberty Party to form a new political party\u2014the Free-Soil Party\u2014which had one goal, to oppose the extension of slavery into the territories.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/section><\/div>\r\n<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-info\">\r\n<h3>Critical Thinking Questions<\/h3>\r\n<section>\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Consider the role of filibusters in American expansion. What are some arguments in favor of filibustering? What are some arguments against it?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>What are the economic and political issues raised by having an imbalance between free and slave states? Why did the balance of free and slave states matter?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>How did Anglo-American settlers in Texas see themselves? Did they adopt a Mexican identity because they were living in Mexican territory? Why or why not?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Consider the annexation of Texas and the Mexican-American War from a Mexican perspective. What would you find objectionable about American actions, foreign policy, and attitudes in the 1840s?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Describe the place of Texas in the history of American westward expansion by comparing Texas\u2019s early history to the Missouri Crisis in 1819\u20131820. What are the similarities and what are the differences?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Consider the arguments over the expansion of slavery made by both northerners and southerners in the aftermath of the U.S. victory over Mexico. Who had the more compelling case? Or did each side make equally significant arguments?<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/section><\/div>\r\n<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-success\"><section>\r\n<h3>Glossary<\/h3>\r\n<strong>Barnburners\u00a0<\/strong>northern Democrats loyal to Martin Van Buren who opposed the extension of slavery into the territories and broke away from the main party when it nominated a pro-popular sovereignty candidate\r\n\r\n<strong>Compromise of 1850\u00a0<\/strong>five separate laws passed by Congress in September 1850 to resolve issues stemming from the Mexican Cession and the sectional crisis\r\n\r\n<strong>Free-Soil Party\u00a0<\/strong>a political party that sought to exclude slavery from the western territories, leaving these areas open for settlement by white farmers and ensuring that white laborers would not have to compete with slaves\r\n\r\n<strong>Liberty Party\u00a0<\/strong>a political party formed in 1840 by those who believed political measures were the best means by which abolition could be accomplished\r\n\r\n<strong>Slave Power\u00a0<\/strong>a term northerners used to describe the disproportionate influence that they felt elite southern slaveholders wielded in both domestic and international affairs\r\n\r\n<strong>Wilmot Proviso\u00a0<\/strong>an amendment to a revenue bill that would have barred slavery from all the territory acquired from Mexico\r\n\r\n<\/section><\/div>","rendered":"<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-highlight\">\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\n<p>By the end of this section, you will be able to:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"im_orderedlist\">\n<li>Describe the terms of the Wilmot Proviso<\/li>\n<li>Discuss why the Free-Soil Party objected to the westward expansion of slavery<\/li>\n<li>Explain why sectional and political divisions in the United States grew<\/li>\n<li>Describe the terms of the Compromise of 1850<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"fs-idm14017744\">The 1848 treaty with Mexico did not bring the United States domestic peace. Instead, the acquisition of new territory revived and intensified the debate over the future of slavery in the western territories, widening the growing division between North and South and leading to the creation of new single-issue parties. Increasingly, the South came to regard itself as under attack by radical northern abolitionists, and many northerners began to speak ominously of a southern drive to dominate American politics for the purpose of protecting slaveholders\u2019 human property. As tensions mounted and both sides hurled accusations, national unity frayed. Compromise became nearly impossible and antagonistic sectional rivalries replaced the idea of a unified, democratic republic.<\/p>\n<section id=\"fs-idp310110112\" data-depth=\"1\">\n<h1 data-type=\"title\">THE LIBERTY PARTY, THE WILMOT PROVISO, AND THE ANTISLAVERY MOVEMENT<\/h1>\n<p id=\"fs-idp322013248\">Committed to protecting white workers by keeping slavery out of the lands taken from Mexico, Pennsylvania congressman David Wilmot attached to an 1846 revenue bill an amendment that would prohibit slavery in the new territory. The <span data-type=\"term\">Wilmot Proviso<\/span> was not entirely new. Other congressmen had drafted similar legislation, and Wilmot\u2019s language was largely copied from the 1787 Northwest Ordinance that had banned slavery in that territory. His ideas were very controversial in the 1840s, however, because his proposals would prevent American slaveholders from bringing what they viewed as their lawful property, their slaves, into the western lands. The measure passed the House but was defeated in the Senate. When Polk tried again to raise revenue the following year (to pay for lands taken from Mexico), the Wilmot Proviso was reintroduced, this time calling for the prohibition of slavery not only in the Mexican Cession but in all U.S. territories. The revenue bill passed, but without the proviso.<\/p>\n<p id=\"fs-idp310119472\">That Wilmot, a loyal Democrat, should attempt to counter the actions of a Democratic president hinted at the party divisions that were to come. The 1840s were a particularly active time in the creation and reorganization of political parties and constituencies, mainly because of discontent with the positions of the mainstream Whig and Democratic Parties in regard to slavery and its extension into the territories. The first new party, the small and politically weak <span data-type=\"term\">Liberty Party<\/span> founded in 1840, was a single-issue party, as were many of those that followed it. Its members were abolitionists who fervently believed slavery was evil and should be ended, and that this was best accomplished by political means.<\/p>\n<p id=\"fs-idp63353200\">The Wilmot Proviso captured the \u201cantislavery\u201d sentiments during and after the Mexican War. Antislavery advocates differed from the abolitionists. While abolitionists called for the end of slavery everywhere, antislavery advocates, for various reasons, did not challenge the presence of slavery in the states where it already existed. Those who supported antislavery fervently opposed its expansion westward because, they argued, slavery would degrade white labor and reduce its value, cast a stigma upon hard-working whites, and deprive them of a chance to advance economically. The western lands, they argued, should be open to white men only\u2014small farmers and urban workers for whom the West held the promise of economic advancement. Where slavery was entrenched, according to antislavery advocates, there was little land left for small farmers to purchase, and such men could not compete fairly with slaveholders who held large farms and gangs of slaves. Ordinary laborers suffered also; no one would pay a white man a decent wage when a slave worked for nothing. When labor was associated with loss of freedom, antislavery supporters argued, all white workers carried a stigma that marked them as little better than slaves.<\/p>\n<p id=\"fs-idp132375568\">Wilmot opposed the extension of slavery into the Mexican Cession not because of his concern for African Americans, but because of his belief that slavery hurt white workers, and that lands acquired by the government should be used to better the position of white small farmers and laborers. Work was not simply something that people did; it gave them dignity, but in a slave society, labor had no dignity. In response to these arguments, southerners maintained that laborers in northern factories were treated worse than slaves. Their work was tedious and low paid. Their meager income was spent on inadequate food, clothing, and shelter. There was no dignity in such a life. In contrast, they argued, southern slaves were provided with a home, the necessities of life, and the protection of their masters. Factory owners did not care for or protect their employees in the same way.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"fs-idp1596400\" data-depth=\"1\">\n<h1 data-type=\"title\">THE FREE-SOIL PARTY AND THE ELECTION OF 1848<\/h1>\n<p id=\"fs-idp18003136\">The Wilmot Proviso was an issue of great importance to the Democrats. Would they pledge to support it? At the party\u2019s New York State convention in Buffalo, Martin Van Buren\u2019s antislavery supporters\u2014called <span data-type=\"term\">Barnburners<\/span> because they were likened to farmers who were willing to burn down their own barn to get rid of a rat infestation\u2014spoke in favor of the proviso. Their opponents, known as Hunkers, refused to support it. Angered, the Barnburners organized their own convention, where they chose antislavery, pro\u2013Wilmot Proviso delegates to send to the Democrats\u2019 national convention in Baltimore. In this way, the controversy over the expansion of slavery divided the Democratic Party.<\/p>\n<p id=\"fs-idp18837296\">At the national convention, both sets of delegates were seated\u2014the pro-proviso ones chosen by the Barnburners and the anti-proviso ones chosen by the Hunkers. When it came time to vote for the party\u2019s presidential nominee, the majority of votes were for Lewis Cass, an advocate of popular sovereignty. Popular sovereignty was the belief that citizens should be able to decide issues based on the principle of majority rule; in this case, residents of a territory should have the right to decide whether slavery would be allowed in it. Theoretically, this doctrine would allow slavery to become established in any U.S. territory, including those from which it had been banned by earlier laws.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images-archive-read-only\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/883\/2015\/08\/23202511\/CNX_History_11_05_Barnburner.jpg\" alt=\"A cartoon depicts Martin Van Buren and his son John setting fire to a barn, from which smoke billows. Lewis Cass crouches on the roof, preparing to leap. John exclaims \u201cThat\u2019s you Dad! more \u2018Free Soil.\u2019 We'll rat \u2018em out yet. Long life to Davy Wilmot.\u201d\" width=\"390\" height=\"278\" data-media-type=\"image\/jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">This political cartoon depicts Martin Van Buren and his son John, both Barnburners, forcing the slavery issue within the Democratic Party by \u201csmoking out\u201d fellow Democrat Lewis Cass on the roof. Their support of the Wilmot Proviso and the new Free-Soil Party is demonstrated by John\u2019s declaration, \u201cThat\u2019s you Dad! more \u2018Free-Soil.\u2019 We&#8217;ll rat \u2018em out yet. Long life to Davy Wilmot.\u201d (credit: Library of Congress)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"fs-idp2958832\">Disgusted by the result, the Barnburners united with antislavery Whigs and former members of the Liberty Party to form a new political party\u2014the <span data-type=\"term\">Free-Soil Party<\/span>, which took as its slogan \u201cFree Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor, and Free Men.\u201d The party had one real goal\u2014to oppose the extension of slavery into the territories. In the minds of its members and many other northerners of the time, southern slaveholders had marshaled their wealth and power to control national politics for the purpose of protecting the institution of slavery and extending it into the territories. Many in the Free-Soil Party believed in this far-reaching conspiracy of the slaveholding elite to control both foreign affairs and domestic policies for their own ends, a cabal that came to be known as the <span data-type=\"term\">Slave Power<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p id=\"fs-idm257586384\">In the wake of the Mexican War, antislavery sentiment entered mainstream American politics when the new Free-Soil party promptly selected Martin Van Buren as its presidential candidate. For the first time, a national political party committed itself to the goal of stopping the expansion of slavery. The Democrats chose Lewis Cass, and the Whigs nominated General Zachary Taylor, as Polk had assumed they would. On Election Day, Democrats split their votes between Van Buren and Cass. With the strength of the Democratic vote diluted, Taylor won. His popularity with the American people served him well, and his status as a slaveholder helped him win the South.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">Visit the archives of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gilderlehrman.org\/collections\/cf9b8567-219e-45e1-b6a5-854875350310?back=\/mweb\/search%3Fneedle%3Dsmith%2520ingalls\" target=\"_blank\">Gilder Lehrman Institute<\/a> to read an August 1848 letter from Gerrit Smith, a staunch abolitionist, regarding the Free-Soil candidate, Martin Van Buren. Smith played a major role in the Liberty Party and was their presidential candidate in 1848.<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"fs-idm60863280\" data-depth=\"1\">\n<h1 data-type=\"title\">THE COMPROMISE OF 1850<\/h1>\n<p id=\"fs-idm246924944\">The election of 1848 did nothing to quell the controversy over whether slavery would advance into the Mexican Cession. Some slaveholders, like President Taylor, considered the question a moot point because the lands acquired from Mexico were far too dry for growing cotton and therefore, they thought, no slaveholder would want to move there. Other southerners, however, argued that the question was not whether slaveholders <em data-effect=\"italics\">would<\/em> want to move to the lands of the Mexican Cession, but whether they <em data-effect=\"italics\">could<\/em> and still retain control of their slave property. Denying them the right to freely relocate with their lawful property was, they maintained, unfair and unconstitutional. Northerners argued, just as fervidly, that because Mexico had abolished slavery, no slaves currently lived in the Mexican Cession, and to introduce slavery there would extend it to a new territory, thus furthering the institution and giving the Slave Power more control over the United States. The strong current of antislavery sentiment\u2014that is, the desire to protect white labor\u2014only increased the opposition to the expansion of slavery into the West.<\/p>\n<p id=\"fs-idm252150480\">Most northerners, except members of the Free-Soil Party, favored popular sovereignty for California and the New Mexico territory. Many southerners opposed this position, however, for they feared residents of these regions might choose to outlaw slavery. Some southern politicians spoke ominously of secession from the United States. Free-Soilers rejected popular sovereignty and demanded that slavery be permanently excluded from the territories.<\/p>\n<p id=\"fs-idm28780736\">Beginning in January 1850, Congress worked for eight months on a compromise that might quiet the growing sectional conflict. Led by the aged Henry Clay, members finally agreed to the following:<\/p>\n<blockquote id=\"fs-idm95423376\">\n<div>1. California, which was ready to enter the Union, was admitted as a free state in accordance with its state constitution.<br \/>\n2. Popular sovereignty was to determine the status of slavery in New Mexico and Utah, even though Utah and part of New Mexico were north of the Missouri Compromise line.<br \/>\n3. The slave trade was banned in the nation\u2019s capital. Slavery, however, was allowed to remain.<br \/>\n4. Under a new fugitive slave law, those who helped runaway slaves or refused to assist in their return would be fined and possibly imprisoned.<br \/>\n5. The border between Texas and New Mexico was established.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p id=\"fs-idm8843024\">The <span data-type=\"term\">Compromise of 1850<\/span> brought temporary relief. It resolved the issue of slavery in the territories for the moment and prevented secession. The peace would not last, however. Instead of relieving tensions between North and South, it had actually made them worse.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox\">\n<h1 data-type=\"title\">Section Summary<\/h1>\n<p id=\"fs-idp69980752\">The acquisition of lands from Mexico in 1848 reawakened debates regarding slavery. The suggestion that slavery be barred from the Mexican Cession caused rancorous debate between North and South and split the Democratic Party when many northern members left to create the Free-Soil Party. Although the Compromise of 1850 resolved the question of whether slavery would be allowed in the new territories, the solution pleased no one. The peace brought by the compromise was short-lived, and the debate over slavery continued.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>\t<iframe id=\"lumen_assessment_25696\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/assessments.lumenlearning.com\/assessments\/load?assessment_id=25696&#38;embed=1&#38;external_user_id=&#38;external_context_id=&#38;iframe_resize_id=lumen_assessment_25696\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;width:100%;height:100%;min-height:400px;\"><br \/>\n\t<\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-info\">\n<h3>Review Question<\/h3>\n<section>\n<ol>\n<li>Describe the events leading up to the formation of the Free-Soil Party.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-info\">\n<h3>Answer to Review Question<\/h3>\n<section>\n<ol>\n<li>At the party\u2019s national convention in 1848, the majority of Democrats voted for a candidate who supported popular sovereignty. A faction of the party was dismayed by this outcome; they opposed popular sovereignty and wanted to restrict the expansion of slavery in order to protect the value of white workers\u2019 labor. They united with antislavery Whigs and former members of the Liberty Party to form a new political party\u2014the Free-Soil Party\u2014which had one goal, to oppose the extension of slavery into the territories.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-info\">\n<h3>Critical Thinking Questions<\/h3>\n<section>\n<ol>\n<li>Consider the role of filibusters in American expansion. What are some arguments in favor of filibustering? What are some arguments against it?<\/li>\n<li>What are the economic and political issues raised by having an imbalance between free and slave states? Why did the balance of free and slave states matter?<\/li>\n<li>How did Anglo-American settlers in Texas see themselves? Did they adopt a Mexican identity because they were living in Mexican territory? Why or why not?<\/li>\n<li>Consider the annexation of Texas and the Mexican-American War from a Mexican perspective. What would you find objectionable about American actions, foreign policy, and attitudes in the 1840s?<\/li>\n<li>Describe the place of Texas in the history of American westward expansion by comparing Texas\u2019s early history to the Missouri Crisis in 1819\u20131820. What are the similarities and what are the differences?<\/li>\n<li>Consider the arguments over the expansion of slavery made by both northerners and southerners in the aftermath of the U.S. victory over Mexico. Who had the more compelling case? Or did each side make equally significant arguments?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-success\">\n<section>\n<h3>Glossary<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Barnburners\u00a0<\/strong>northern Democrats loyal to Martin Van Buren who opposed the extension of slavery into the territories and broke away from the main party when it nominated a pro-popular sovereignty candidate<\/p>\n<p><strong>Compromise of 1850\u00a0<\/strong>five separate laws passed by Congress in September 1850 to resolve issues stemming from the Mexican Cession and the sectional crisis<\/p>\n<p><strong>Free-Soil Party\u00a0<\/strong>a political party that sought to exclude slavery from the western territories, leaving these areas open for settlement by white farmers and ensuring that white laborers would not have to compete with slaves<\/p>\n<p><strong>Liberty Party\u00a0<\/strong>a political party formed in 1840 by those who believed political measures were the best means by which abolition could be accomplished<\/p>\n<p><strong>Slave Power\u00a0<\/strong>a term northerners used to describe the disproportionate influence that they felt elite southern slaveholders wielded in both domestic and international affairs<\/p>\n<p><strong>Wilmot Proviso\u00a0<\/strong>an amendment to a revenue bill that would have barred slavery from all the territory acquired from Mexico<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-353\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>US History. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: P. Scott Corbett, Volker  Janssen, John M. Lund,  Todd Pfannestiel, Paul Vickery, and Sylvie Waskiewicz. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: OpenStax College. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/openstaxcollege.org\/textbooks\/us-history\">http:\/\/openstaxcollege.org\/textbooks\/us-history<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em>. <strong>License Terms<\/strong>: Download for free at http:\/\/cnx.org\/content\/col11740\/latest\/<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":969,"menu_order":7,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"US History\",\"author\":\"P. Scott Corbett, Volker  Janssen, John M. 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