Home > Wilmot Proviso

It was assumed that Texas would be the last slave state to enter the Union, leaving California and New Mexico for free labor, which the Democratic Party, with its mostly northern base of support wanted. The proviso was named for Congressman David Wilmot of Pennsylvania, which gave the proviso its name. The Free Soil Party formed in support of the Wilmot Proviso, and their platform of Free soil was later adopted by the Republican Party.

The proviso pushed the country closer to civil war; it raised questions about slaves which had not been asked previously. Southerners saw slaves as property, and as such slave holders rights to property were protected unter the Constitution, and could take slaves where ever they wish. This lead to much opposition to any attempts to bar slavery while the country was expanding. This was one main reason the proviso was never passed.

The amendment was never actually adopted by Congress, and was in fact expressly repudiated in the Compromise of 1850, and its content declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott case. Although known as the Wilmot Proviso it really originated with Jacob Brinkerhoff (1810-1880) of Ohio, Wilmot being selected to present it only because his party standing was more regular. The extension of the principle to territory other than that to be acquired from Mexico was probably due to Preston King (1806-1865) of New York.