FREE SOIL PARTY
The Free Soil Party evolved in the 1840s in
response to the growing split between pro- and
anti-slavery movements in the United States.
National politics was controlled primarily by
two parties, Democratic and Whig.Within both
parties there were supporters and opponents of
SLAVERY, and the issue became more heated as
the U.S. added territory. Proponents of slavery
wanted to extend it into the newly acquired ter-
ritories, while opponents wanted the territories
to remain free. The issue grew especially heated
among members of the state DEMOCRATIC
PARTY in New York. Two groups emerged: the
“Barnburners,” who opposed slavery, and the
“Hunkers,” who supported slavery or were neu-
tral on the question.
In 1844, the Barnburners pushed for the
nomination of former president and fellow New
Yor ke r MARTIN VAN BUREN. Southern Democrats
supported JAMES K. POLK, who was more sympa-
thetic to their views, and although the New York
Democrats were well organized they could not
defeat a strong Southern bloc. Polk won the
Democratic nomination and beat the Whig can-
didate, HENRY CLAY, in the general election.
The Mexican War, which began in 1846, fur-
ther exacerbated the slavery question. DAVID
WILMOT, a Democratic congressman from
Pennsylvania, introduced what became known
as the WILMOT PROVISO. It called for a prohibi-
tion of slavery in any territory acquired by the
United States in the war with Mexico. The
Wilmot Proviso came up for a vote several
times; it was routinely passed by the House and
defeated by the Senate.
Democrats and Whigs wanted to avoid party
division in the election of 1848, so they virtually
ignored the slavery question. The Democrats
nominated Lewis Cass, who was sympathetic to
Southern slaveholders. In defiance, anti-slavery
Democrats joined with the Barnburners in New
York to create the Free Soil party. The party held
its convention in Buffalo, New York, in August
1848 and adopted the slogan, “Free soil, free
speech, free labor, and free men.” The Free Soil-
ers nominated Van Buren for president and
Charles Francis Adams of Massachusetts for vice
president.
The Free Soilers had a mixed reception.
Many people saw them as a cynical group of Van
Buren loyalists who had no real desire to abolish
slavery but merely to take votes away from the
major parties. Senator DANIEL WEBSTER, the
statesman from Massachusetts (and himself a
Whig), derisively called the party the “Free
Spoilers.” Yet the party drew a surprising
