Wilmot+Proviso

= ** T he W ilmot P roviso**  =

//"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."// -- [|The Wilmot Proviso, 1846]

The Mexican-American War, which spanned from 1846-1848, was essentially the dispute between the United States and Mexico over Texas. In his quest to increase the territory westward of the United States, President Polk had his sights on Texas, thus annexing it in 1845. Mexico, however, did not approve of this, as it claimed Texas as one of its territories, and was unwilling to accept the annexation. With the United States and Mexico unwilling to the cede Texas to the other, they waged war on each other beginning on April 25, 1846.

Upon hearing that Polk had asked Congress for the means to carry out the war against Mexico, the Northern Whigs felt threatened. They believed that Polk's goal in backing the war against Mexico was to spread slavery into Texas, which was considered a slave state when it became a part of the United States. Slavery was an idea that the northern Whigs severely opposed, which was apparent to the Democrats. The Democrats saw that such a vehement opposition would pose future threats, especially in the upcoming 1846 presidential elections, and some even wished to calm the northern Whigs by claiming that there were no such intentions to place slavery in Texas.

Thus, when Polk requested that Congress supply $2 million dollars to establish a deal with Mexico regarding territory boundaries and to end the war in 1846, he also asked **David Wilmot**, a democrat, to add an amendment to his request. The result was a proposition later known as the **Wilmot Proviso**, named after its presenter, David Wilmot.

T he Proposal of the Wilmot Proviso
On August 8, 1846, David Wilmot presented the Wilmot Proviso, which proposed a ban on slavery in the lands acquired from Mexico after the Mexican-American War. The Northern representatives mostly approved this amendment, due to their characteristic disapproval of slavery, while many Southern representatives who vouched for slavery, opposed such a proposal. The Wilmot Proviso was able to pass the House of Representatives, since there were more Northerners in favor of it than there were Southerners who were against it; it, however, was rejected by the Senate, in which there was more Southern representation, which meant that Congress could not pass it as a law.

When a new bill for $3 million dollars was brought up along with the Wilmot Proviso, Senator John Calhoun and other senators who backed slavery wanted to pass the funds to establish a negotiation--on the grounds that the Wilmot Proviso would not be passed along with the funds. At this point, the Proviso failed to gain the approval of the Senate. Many times, the Wilmot Proviso was approved by the House, but not by the Senate each time it was proposed; eventually, the members of both the Whig and the Democratic party became split over the Wilmot Proviso. In the hopes of maintaining a sense of unity by the time the 1848 presidential elections rolled by, the Whigs and Democrats both stopped backing the Proviso, which caused many people of the North who were against slavery to form a Free Soil Party, which became the base of the Republican party.

In the end, the Wilmot Proposal was not passed. Despite this fact, it still played an important role in beginning the Civil War.

T he Role of the Wilmot Proviso in the Civil War
While the Wilmot Proposal failed approval by the Senate, it did not mean that it also lacked significance. For one, its continuous appearances before the House and the Senate only made both the North and the South increasingly aware of their lacking unity. In this way, it served to further the tensions between the North and the South, as both sides were divided over the amendment. There is no doubt that the North felt a sort of antagonism towards the South, for the South and its representatives in Congress were the ones who collectively strove for slavery and prevented the Wilmot Proviso from passing. In turn, the South was rather frustrated at the North for wanting to get rid of slavery, since slavery was such a vital part of the Southern economy; slaves on plantations and farms made it easier to harvest cash crops and sell them for worthy profits. If slavery was to be abolished, then the economy would go down and make the Southern states poorer. In short, the North had no use for slaves and saw moral problems with slavery, while the South believed that the North was rather elitist and did not consider that they needed slavery to maintain a working economy.

In addition, while the debate over whether or not to approve or to reject the Wilmot Proviso raged on as it was proposed a multitude of times, members of the Whig and Democratic party had varying views from other members of the same party, as well as different views from members of the opposing party; the need to pull the country together, in which the Whigs and Democrats did not show support for the Proviso, caused a spark in dissatisfied Northern people who wanted the Proviso to be passed. The party that they formed, the Free Soil Party, was the base of the Republican Party, with the belief that slavery should be banned from government territory. Since Lincoln was later elected as President and was present for the Civil War, his republican views about abolishing slavery came from this Free Soil Party, which was caused by the Proviso.

The clashing views between the North and the South, as well as their inability to meet eye to eye on the topic of slavery was the main fuel for the Civil War--and by bringing slavery to attention of the North and South, the Wilmot Proviso added to this main fuel. If the Wilmot Proviso had not served as a push for the North and South to further realize the division of views regarding slavery, then the Civil War may not have happened when it did. Also, Lincoln's republican views had roots from the Free Soil Party which had stemmed from the Wilmot Proviso, which would have Lincoln call for the abolition of slavery within America--and thus start the Civil War. Therefore, in this way, the Wilmot Proviso is the cause of the Civil War.



** S ources**

 * Getting the Message Out! Pivotal Events: The Wilmot Proviso
 * Wilmot's Proviso
 * [|Wilmot Proviso]
 * [|Law Library: Wilmot Proviso]