Political Bedlam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Political Bedlam - Essay Example The Southerners believed that by extending slavery towards the west would secure their economy and stabilize their way of living. However, the Northerners were against the concept of slavery itself. In 1846, David Wilmot, a defender of freedom for the slaves, put forward Wilmot Proviso in regard to his opinion which was crushed by the Southerners before it could reach the Senate. This activity of the southerners proved it that they weren’t ready to give in either. The reason for this resistance was the fear of Southerners over the loss of slavery in their own domination which could come about eventually if the Northerners weren’t stopped. But the issue gained more and more weight with the passage of time. The election of 1848 was the ground for each party to display their argument over the issue of slavery. The northern Whigs nominated General Zachary Taylor, a Mexican war hero, who made efforts to avert the controversy by not speaking on the matter directly. The opposition, the Democrats, however nominated Lewis Cass who was also neutral on the issue and left it on the citizens of western territory to choose a system for themselves. The elections also gave a birth to the Free-Soil Party supported by a wide group of the Northern abolitionists, early Liberty voters and the angered Democrats and Whigs. They nominated Martin Van Buren, former president of the United States, who succeeded in his endeavor of turning the votes in favor of Ta ylor (Waugh 140-148). The issue of slavery lay dormant for a year but this was soon erupted into newer consequences with the application of California and Utah for statehood. Again the question of establishing these states as free of slave states came into picture. Similarly, Washington D.C was under the same cloud. The future of these three states had to be decided now and so this led to a series of debates in the congress over the issue. The Southerners wanted to sustain their