What was the Wilmot Proviso and why did Southerners oppose it?

What was the Wilmot Proviso and why did Southerners oppose it?

What was the Wilmot Proviso and why did Southerners oppose it? The Wilmot Proviso would have banned slavery in any territory to be acquired from Mexico in the Mexican War; or, in the future, including the area later known as the Mexican Cession. The Southerners felt slaves were property protected by the constitution.

Why did the North want to pass the Wilmot Proviso bill?

The bill would allow Northern businessmen to take advantage of the natural resources in the newly acquired territories. The bill would increase the number of free states, which would increase their representation in Congress. …

Why did Wilmot not want slavery?

The Free Soilers distilled the Proviso down to the campaign slogan: “No more slave states and no more slave territory.” Unlike mainstream abolitionists, Wilmot did not abhor the practice of slavery on moral grounds; rather he feared that the South, with its peculiar institution, was gaining too much power.

Why did the Wilmot Proviso cause the Civil War?

The Wilmot Proviso was a piece of legislation proposed by David Wilmot (D-FS-R PA) at the close of the Mexican-American War. If passed, the Proviso would have outlawed slavery in territory acquired by the United States as a result of the war, which included most of the Southwest and extended all the way to California.

Which political group opposed the Wilmot Proviso?

Despite repeated attempts, the Wilmot Proviso was never passed by both houses of Congress. But out of the attempt by both Democrats and Whigs to subordinate or compromise the slavery issue grew the Republican Party, founded in 1854, which specifically supported the Wilmot principle.

Which party endorsed the Wilmot Proviso?

The creation of the Republican Party in 1854 was based on an antislavery platform that endorsed the Wilmot Proviso. The prohibition of slavery in any new territories became a party tenet, with Wilmot himself emerging as Republican Party leader.