Free-soil party,
A political party founded in 1848 upon the principle of the non-extension of the slave system in the
Territories.
It was an outgrowth of the
liberty party (q. v.) of 1846.
The immediate cause of its organization was the acquisition of new territory at the close of the war with
Mexico, which would, if not prevented, become slave territory.
In a bill appropriating money for the negotiation of peace with
Mexico, submitted to Congress in 1846,
David Wilmot (q. v.), a Democratic member from
Pennsylvania, offered an amendment, “
Provided, that there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any Territory on the continent of
America which shall hereafter be acquired by or annexed to the
United States by virtue of this appropriation, or in any other manner, except for crime,” etc. It was carried in the
House, but failed in the Senate; and in the next session it was defeated in both branches.
This was the famous
Wilmot “Proviso.”
Resolutions to this effect were offered in both the
Democratic and Whig conventions in 1846, but were rejected.
A consequence of such rejection was a considerable secession of prominent men, and many others, from both parties, especially in
Massachusetts, New York, and
Ohio.
In New York the seceding Democrats were called “Barnburners” (q. v.) and the two classes of seceders combined were called “Free-soilers.”
The two combined, and at a convention held at
Buffalo, Aug. 9, 1848, they formed the Free-soil party.
The convention was composed of delegates from all the free-labor States, and from
Delaware,
Maryland,
Virginia, and the District of Columbia.
They nominated
Martin Van Buren (q. v.) for
President of the
United States, and
Charles Francis Adams (q. v.) for
Vice-President.
The ticket received a popular anti-slavery vote of 291,000, but did not receive a single electoral vote.
The Freesoil Convention at
Pittsburg in 1852 nominated
John P. Hale (q. v.) for
President, and
George W. Julian (q. v.) for
Vice-President, who received a popular vote of 157,000.
The compromise measures of 1850, and the virtual repeal of the
Missouri compromise (q. v.) in the act for the creation of the
Territories of
Kansas and
Nebraska in 1854, greatly increased the strength of the Free-soil party, and it formed the nucleus of the historical Republican party in 1856, when the Free-soilers, as a distinct party, disappeared.
