The Compromise of 1850

ASU HST 200 (Historical Themes) Troubled Times: the Tumultuous 1850s The Compromise of 1850 (Key Notes and Summary) Key Notes • The United States gained the Mexican Cession as a consequence of the MexicanAmerican War, which sparked discussions over the legality of slavery in the newly acquired lands. • Opponents of slavery in the North united behind the Wilmot Proviso of 1846, which sought to stop the expansion of slavery into areas annexed from Mexico. • The Wilmot Proviso stimulated political debate and helped to form the Free-Soil Party in 1848, even though it never became legislation. • Instead than emphasizing the abolition of slavery in areas where it already existed, the Free-Soil Party worked to maintain the freedom of White laborers by preventing enslavement in western regions. • Extremists in the South, especially affluent slaveholders, fiercely fought attempts to halt the spread of slavery and even dared to secede in order to defend their rights. Summary Following the Mexican-American War, the United States annexed western lands known as the Mexican Cession, generating concerns over whether or not these regions would support free soil or allow slavery. The Wilmot Proviso, which sought to limit the introduction of slavery into recently acquired areas, was a prime example of the Northern resistance to slavery that resulted from this geographical expansion. The Proviso, which was never implemented, served as a catalyst for the formation of the Free-Soil Party in 1848. This party sought to keep the West free of slavery in order to preserve the possibility of White labor migration. In the meantime, radicals in the South, mostly affluent slaveowners, fiercely resisted these actions, pushing for the growth of slavery and even threatening secession in order to defend their rights. Introduction Notes The United States obtained a sizable portion of western land known as the Mexican Cession at the conclusion of the Mexican-American War. It was unclear how this additional area would be used; would the new republics be free-soil or slave states? Ultimately, the Mexican-American War succeeded in what abolitionism had not been able to do on its own: it inspired a large number of Northerners to oppose slavery. Northerners opposed to slavery held on to the Wilmot Proviso of 1846, which stated that slavery would not spread into territories that were captured from Mexico and later purchased. The proviso established the sectional division even though it was only ever a suggestion and never passed into law. This position served as the focal point of the Free-Soil Party's political activities, which ensured that the topic of slavery and its spread remained at the forefront of American political discourse. The Free-Soil Party was founded at the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848 and comprised many members of the failed Liberty Party. Rather than seeking to outlaw slavery in states where it already existed, proponents of the Wilmot Proviso and the newly formed FreeSoil Party insisted that the western territories remain free of slavery for the sake of potential White labor migrants. Their goal was to shield White laborers in the West from having to compete with slave labor. Extremists in the South, particularly affluent slaveholders, were incensed by this attempt to stop the spread of slavery (abolitionists, on the other hand, want to eradicate slavery entirely within the United States). In order to preserve their way of life—that is, the privilege to enslave people—and guarantee the expansion of the American empire of slavery, they campaigned for the freedom to take their property owned by slaves and promised to secede from the Union if necessary.