The Election of 1848

When Texas applied for admission to the United States as a slaveholding state, Congress once again had to debate the disturbance of the balance of power. The legislators compromised once again, admitting Texas as a slave state but also extending westward the line of the Missouri Compromise, north of which there was to be no slavery permitted. In 1846, Representative David Wilmot of Pennsylvania suggested the Wilmot Proviso, which stipulated that slavery would not be allowed in any territory acquired in the Mexican War. Southerners threatened to secede from the Union over the Wilmot Proviso, and after heated debate, it was defeated in the Senate.

This dispute over the slaveholding or free status of the formerly Mexican territory became the key issue in the 1848 presidential election. Opponents of slavery formed the Free-Soil Party, represented by Martin Van Buren and Charles Francis Adams. The Whigs chose Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore for their candidates, while Lewis Cass and William Butler represented the Democrats. Mexican War hero Taylor was himself a slaveholder, but he did not comment on the issue of slavery during the campaign. The Democrats, who supported slavery, narrowly lost the election to the Whigs, who did not. The Free-Soil Party won several seats in the House of Representatives, ensuring that abolitionist forces would continue to have a voice in the government.

Practice questions for these concepts can be found at:

Westward Expansion Practice Test

The Election of 1848