Right after the Mexican War, many new lands west of Texas debated over the westward expansion of slavery. Expanding slavery for the southerners was important because slave owners needed to have new land to put under cultivation because of the tendency to plant cash crops. Southern politicians and slave owners also demanded that slavery be allowed in the west because they feared that their economy would collapse. Northerners however believed that slavery should be banned from the new territories.
The Wilmot Proviso was one of the major events leading to the American Civil War, it was designed to eliminate slavery within the land acquired as a result of the Mexican war. It was initially attached to a funding request by president Polk, the House of Representative approved the bill with the proviso attached but the senate adjourned before any discussion of the issue. The Wilmot proviso justified southerner’s fears that the North had designs against slavery. They worried that if politicians in the North prevented slavery from expanding westward, it was only a matter of time before they began attacking in the south as well. As a result, southerners in both parties flatly …show more content…
The issue was quiet for about a year but it was revived when California and Utah applied for statehood. California’s population had boomed after the 1849 gold rush had attracted thousands of prospectors, while barren Utah had blossomed due to the ingenuity of several thousand Mormons. A great debate ensured in congress over the future of these three regions as southerners attempted to defend the economic system while northerners decried the evils of slavery. John Calhoun argued that the south still had every right to nullify unconstitutional laws and, if necessary to secede from the Union it created. Daniel Webster and Henry Clay on the other hand championed the union and
The Wilmot Proviso was one of the major events leading to the American Civil War, it was designed to eliminate slavery within the land acquired as a result of the Mexican war. It was initially attached to a funding request by president Polk, the House of Representative approved the bill with the proviso attached but the senate adjourned before any discussion of the issue. The Wilmot proviso justified southerner’s fears that the North had designs against slavery. They worried that if politicians in the North prevented slavery from expanding westward, it was only a matter of time before they began attacking in the south as well. As a result, southerners in both parties flatly …show more content…
The issue was quiet for about a year but it was revived when California and Utah applied for statehood. California’s population had boomed after the 1849 gold rush had attracted thousands of prospectors, while barren Utah had blossomed due to the ingenuity of several thousand Mormons. A great debate ensured in congress over the future of these three regions as southerners attempted to defend the economic system while northerners decried the evils of slavery. John Calhoun argued that the south still had every right to nullify unconstitutional laws and, if necessary to secede from the Union it created. Daniel Webster and Henry Clay on the other hand championed the union and