Antebellum America: The Wilmot Proviso
In 1846, a Congressman from Pennsylvania, named David Wilmot introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives that became known as “The Wilmot Proviso.” It was an unsuccessful attempt to ban slavery in territories acquired from Mexico in the Mexican–American War. The Wilmot Proviso would serve to further elevate tensions between free states and slave states and is often cited as one of the major irritants that would cause the nation to go to war with itself.
Wilmot first introduced the proviso in the House of Representatives on August 8, 1846, as a rider on a $2,000,000 appropriations bill intended for the final negotiations to resolve the Mexican–American War. The war had just begun three months previously, but many in Congress foresaw problems in its aftermath. If it had been successful, the Wilmot Proviso would have cancelled out the 1820 Missouri Compromise.
After the United States annexed the Republic of Texas by a joint resolution of Congress that required simply a majority vote in each house of Congress, President John Tyler signed the bill on March 1, 1845, a few days before his term ended. Many expected that the annexation led to war with Mexico and they were correct. War broke out in the spring of 1846. Early American victories led to the capture of New Mexico and California and politicians began to contemplate how much territory would be acquired from Mexico and what the future status of slavery in any new territory would be.
Both major political parties had tried to keep divisive slavery issues from breaking up the Union. But the issue was causing divisions within the two major parties. Democratic dissatisfaction with the James K. Polk administration was growing, especially from the Martin Van Buren, or Barnburner, wing of the Party. These supporters of Van Buren felt that their candidate had been unfairly denied the party's nomination in 1844 when southern delegates resurrected a convention rule requiring that the nominee had to receive two-thirds of the delegate votes. Many in the North were also upset with the Walker tariff which reduced the tariff rates. Others were upset over the Oregon settlement with Great Britain, believing that Polk should have come away with more territory than he had acquired.
For the Whigs, Polk’s victory over Henry Clay in the 1844 presidential election caused many Southern Whigs to conclude that this defeat was due to the party's failure to take a strong stand in favor of Texas annexation.
The Mexican-American War was seen by both parties as an effort to gain more territory for the establishment of slave states. It was popular in the South, but not in the North.
On Saturday, August 8, 1846, President Polk submitted to Congress a request for $2,000,000 in order to fund negotiations with Mexico over the final settlement of the war. With Congress scheduled to adjourn that Monday, Democratic leadership arranged for the bill to be immediately considered in a special night session. The debate was to be limited to two hours with no individual speech to last more than ten minutes.
Wilmot, a Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania, and a group of other Barnburner Democrats formed a plan to block the expansion of slavery in any newly acquired territory. Wilmot had a strong record of supporting the Polk Administration and was close to many Southerners, so he was chosen to present the amendment to the appropriations bill that would carry his name because he would not likely be denied the opportunity to address the debate. He used the opportunity to present the following resolution:
Provided, That, as an express and fundamental condition to the acquisition of any territory from the Republic of Mexico by the United States, by virtue of any treaty which may be negotiated between them, and to the use by the Executive of the moneys herein appropriated, neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of said territory, except for crime, whereof the party shall first be duly convicted.
William W. Wick, Democrat of Indiana, attempted to eliminate total restriction of slavery by proposing an amendment that the Missouri Compromise line of latitude 36°30' simply be extended west to the Pacific. This was voted down 89–54. The vote to add the proviso to the bill was then called, and it passed by 83–64. An attempt by southerners to table the entire bill was defeated by 94–78, and then the entire bill was approved 85–80. It was supported along sectional lines rather than party lines.
The Senate took up the bill late in its Monday session. Southern Democrats wanted to reject the Wilmot Proviso and send the bill back to the House for a quick approval of the bill without the restrictions on slavery. The bill was not passed and Congress was out of session.
The issue resurfaced at the end of the year when Polk, in his annual message to Congress, renewed his request, but increased his ask to three million dollars. The Three Million Dollar Bill, as it became known, was the sole item of business in the House from February 8, 1847, until February 15. Congressman Preston King reintroduced the Wilmot Proviso, but this time the exclusion of slavery was expanded to include "any territory on the continent of America which shall hereafter be acquired". Representative Stephen Douglas, Democrat of Illinois, reintroduced the proposal to simply extend the Missouri Compromise line to the west coast. This was again defeated 109–82. The Three Million Dollar Bill with the proviso was then passed by the House 115–106.
In the Senate, led by Thomas Hart Benton (Democrat), the bill was passed, but without the proviso concerning slavery. When the bill was returned to the House the Senate bill prevailed; every Northern Whig still supported the proviso, but 22 Northern Democrats voted with the South.
In 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ending the war was submitted to the Senate for approval. Douglas, who was now a Senator, was among those who joined with the South to defeat an effort to attach the Wilmot Proviso to the treaty.
Although the original Southern response to the Wilmot Proviso was measured, it soon became clear to the South that the congressional attack on slavery had finally occurred. The issue also hurt Martin Van Buren as his state sent two delegations to the 1848 Democratic National Convention, one supporting the Wilmot Proviso and one opposed. Both delegations were seated with the state's total votes split between them. When the convention rejected a pro-proviso plank and selected Lewis Cass as the party’s nominee, the pro-proviso delegation, known as the “Barnburners,” bolted the convention and went on to form the Free Soil Party.
Southerner Whigs looked to slaveholder and war hero General Zachary Taylor as a candidate who might appease both sides in the widening sectional divide even though he took no public stance on the Wilmot Proviso. However, Taylor would turn out as someone who had his own ideas on the subject.
On December 13, 1848, Whig Congressman John G. Palfrey of Massachusetts introduced a bill to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia. Throughout 1849 in the South the rhetoric of resistance to the North escalated and spread. When President Taylor in his December 1849 message to Congress urged the admission of California as a free state, the issue was once again front and center. Two sets of polar opposite extremists would soon clash: Northerners who demanded no new slave territories under any circumstances, and Southerners who demanded free entry for slavery into all territories, failing which there would be secession. Moderates hoped to find a way of compromise. But in crises of this sort, the two sets of extremists always seem to grow in number, and this one was no exception.
Wilmot first introduced the proviso in the House of Representatives on August 8, 1846, as a rider on a $2,000,000 appropriations bill intended for the final negotiations to resolve the Mexican–American War. The war had just begun three months previously, but many in Congress foresaw problems in its aftermath. If it had been successful, the Wilmot Proviso would have cancelled out the 1820 Missouri Compromise.
After the United States annexed the Republic of Texas by a joint resolution of Congress that required simply a majority vote in each house of Congress, President John Tyler signed the bill on March 1, 1845, a few days before his term ended. Many expected that the annexation led to war with Mexico and they were correct. War broke out in the spring of 1846. Early American victories led to the capture of New Mexico and California and politicians began to contemplate how much territory would be acquired from Mexico and what the future status of slavery in any new territory would be.
Both major political parties had tried to keep divisive slavery issues from breaking up the Union. But the issue was causing divisions within the two major parties. Democratic dissatisfaction with the James K. Polk administration was growing, especially from the Martin Van Buren, or Barnburner, wing of the Party. These supporters of Van Buren felt that their candidate had been unfairly denied the party's nomination in 1844 when southern delegates resurrected a convention rule requiring that the nominee had to receive two-thirds of the delegate votes. Many in the North were also upset with the Walker tariff which reduced the tariff rates. Others were upset over the Oregon settlement with Great Britain, believing that Polk should have come away with more territory than he had acquired.
For the Whigs, Polk’s victory over Henry Clay in the 1844 presidential election caused many Southern Whigs to conclude that this defeat was due to the party's failure to take a strong stand in favor of Texas annexation.
The Mexican-American War was seen by both parties as an effort to gain more territory for the establishment of slave states. It was popular in the South, but not in the North.
On Saturday, August 8, 1846, President Polk submitted to Congress a request for $2,000,000 in order to fund negotiations with Mexico over the final settlement of the war. With Congress scheduled to adjourn that Monday, Democratic leadership arranged for the bill to be immediately considered in a special night session. The debate was to be limited to two hours with no individual speech to last more than ten minutes.
Wilmot, a Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania, and a group of other Barnburner Democrats formed a plan to block the expansion of slavery in any newly acquired territory. Wilmot had a strong record of supporting the Polk Administration and was close to many Southerners, so he was chosen to present the amendment to the appropriations bill that would carry his name because he would not likely be denied the opportunity to address the debate. He used the opportunity to present the following resolution:
Provided, That, as an express and fundamental condition to the acquisition of any territory from the Republic of Mexico by the United States, by virtue of any treaty which may be negotiated between them, and to the use by the Executive of the moneys herein appropriated, neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of said territory, except for crime, whereof the party shall first be duly convicted.
William W. Wick, Democrat of Indiana, attempted to eliminate total restriction of slavery by proposing an amendment that the Missouri Compromise line of latitude 36°30' simply be extended west to the Pacific. This was voted down 89–54. The vote to add the proviso to the bill was then called, and it passed by 83–64. An attempt by southerners to table the entire bill was defeated by 94–78, and then the entire bill was approved 85–80. It was supported along sectional lines rather than party lines.
The Senate took up the bill late in its Monday session. Southern Democrats wanted to reject the Wilmot Proviso and send the bill back to the House for a quick approval of the bill without the restrictions on slavery. The bill was not passed and Congress was out of session.
The issue resurfaced at the end of the year when Polk, in his annual message to Congress, renewed his request, but increased his ask to three million dollars. The Three Million Dollar Bill, as it became known, was the sole item of business in the House from February 8, 1847, until February 15. Congressman Preston King reintroduced the Wilmot Proviso, but this time the exclusion of slavery was expanded to include "any territory on the continent of America which shall hereafter be acquired". Representative Stephen Douglas, Democrat of Illinois, reintroduced the proposal to simply extend the Missouri Compromise line to the west coast. This was again defeated 109–82. The Three Million Dollar Bill with the proviso was then passed by the House 115–106.
In the Senate, led by Thomas Hart Benton (Democrat), the bill was passed, but without the proviso concerning slavery. When the bill was returned to the House the Senate bill prevailed; every Northern Whig still supported the proviso, but 22 Northern Democrats voted with the South.
In 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ending the war was submitted to the Senate for approval. Douglas, who was now a Senator, was among those who joined with the South to defeat an effort to attach the Wilmot Proviso to the treaty.
Although the original Southern response to the Wilmot Proviso was measured, it soon became clear to the South that the congressional attack on slavery had finally occurred. The issue also hurt Martin Van Buren as his state sent two delegations to the 1848 Democratic National Convention, one supporting the Wilmot Proviso and one opposed. Both delegations were seated with the state's total votes split between them. When the convention rejected a pro-proviso plank and selected Lewis Cass as the party’s nominee, the pro-proviso delegation, known as the “Barnburners,” bolted the convention and went on to form the Free Soil Party.
Southerner Whigs looked to slaveholder and war hero General Zachary Taylor as a candidate who might appease both sides in the widening sectional divide even though he took no public stance on the Wilmot Proviso. However, Taylor would turn out as someone who had his own ideas on the subject.
On December 13, 1848, Whig Congressman John G. Palfrey of Massachusetts introduced a bill to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia. Throughout 1849 in the South the rhetoric of resistance to the North escalated and spread. When President Taylor in his December 1849 message to Congress urged the admission of California as a free state, the issue was once again front and center. Two sets of polar opposite extremists would soon clash: Northerners who demanded no new slave territories under any circumstances, and Southerners who demanded free entry for slavery into all territories, failing which there would be secession. Moderates hoped to find a way of compromise. But in crises of this sort, the two sets of extremists always seem to grow in number, and this one was no exception.