Greyson+and+Kendall

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[|Mexican Cession] []

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Pictures =1.) David Wilmot= @http://elektratig.blogspot.com/2008_04_01_archive.html

= 2.) Free-Soil party banner = =[]=

=3.) Henry Clay= []

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After the Mexican-American war, new territory was acquired by the United States. This new territory caused the outbreak of one of the most important debates in history. The conflict was that the South wanted to make the soon-to-be states slave states, whereas the North, which was mostly composed of abolitionists, wished to admit the states as free. This decision added fuel to the fire of the slavery debate, causing more issues to arise. In the election of 1844, opinions on slavery played a big part in the campaign. The Southern-Democrats nominated James K. Polk, who was proslavery and therefore had the Southern plantation-owners behind him. The Whigs nominated Henry Clay, who changed his opinion on the annexation of Texas in the middle of the running. The Free-Soil party formed from a rift in the Democratic Party in the North. It was the first party to have a strong opinion on Slavery, about which they were openly opposed. The Free-Soil party was composed of anti-slavery politicians and citizens from both the Whigs and the Democrats, the largest political parties of the time. It was created, in part, by Martin Van Buren, who had failed to be nominated by the Democrats to run for several years. Their main platform called for:
 * Opposition to the extension of slavery into the newly-acquired territories
 * Support for national internal improvement programs
 * Support for moderate [|tariffs] designed for revenue only
 * Support for the enactment of a homestead law.

In addition, the party supported free lands for actual pioneers, cheap postage, improvement of water-ways and harbors and ridding the government of unnecessary positions and salaries. In the next several elections, the free soil party gained power in the government by gaining Congress positions and seats in the Senate. In the Election of 1852, many elements of the Free-Soil party reverted to previous allegiances because they believed that the Compromise of 1850 had resolved any slavery issues. The failure of the Kansas Nebraska Act, caused the free soilers to lose hope. Most went over to the new Republican party as a last chance to prevent slavery from spreading to the territories.

The Missouri Compromise was one territories bid for statehood that sparked a major debate. When the Missouri territory wished to be admitted as a state, an argument sprung up in regards to whether or not it should be made a slave state. The decision held the balance of free states to slave states in its hand. The Missouri Compromise admitted the Missouri territory as a slave state, but also admitted a part of Massachusetts as a free state called Maine. This kept the states balanced at 12 free states and 12 slave states. In addition, an imaginary line was drawn across the Country that showed which areas could be slave states. Also, it became the duty of Northerners to return fugitive slaves to their owners if they should be discovered. The Wilmot Proviso was created in 1846 by a man named David Wilmot. The purpose of the bill was to make it so that no slavery would be introduced to any territory acquired from Mexico after the Mexican-American war. The bill was never passed. The Wilmot Proviso caused a major debate between the North and the South. The proposed bill sharpened the tensions between the areas and caused anger to break out in both regions.

Many arguments, issues, and debates were born from the new territories. Most of the North wanted to isolate slavery where it already was and prevent its spread to territories. The South felt that slavery was their right and that they should be allowed to spread it into new states. The resulting issues caused the great rift between the regions to grow and would hold the future of the United States in its mercy when the problems finally reached their boiling point.