Antebellum Project: Free Soil Movement
Michael Lobsenz
Period 1
MichaelL1
Part 1: The Free Soil Movement was created in 1848 to oppose slavery in new territories because according to them free
men on free soil comprised a morally and economically superior system to slavery. The comparison historical thinking skill
is the most applicable because it can be used to compare how slavery exists in the south at that time but not in the north.
Comparison will be able to show the divide between the north and the south about slavery. Comparing the two societies
will help figure out why the south wants to keep slavery and why the north wants to start movements like the Free Soil
Movement which opposed slavery in new territories.
Part 2: The Free Soil Movement was a movement started around 1848 to oppose the expansion of slavery into new territories
acquired in the west. The movement sometimes worked to remove existing laws that discriminated against freed African
Americans. David Wilmot introduced an amendment to a bill stating slavery
would not exist in any land gained from Mexico, like the Free-Soil movement
supported. The amendment passed the House because there is more population
in the North but did not pass the Senate. Even though the amendment was
blocked it helped widen the expanding sectional rift and inspired people to be
more involved with the issue of slavery. The movement also tried to distance
itself from the abolitionist movement because they avoided the moral problems
of slavery. The Free Soil Movement scared the south because they wanted equal
representation in the Legislature which would not be possibly if there could not
be any more slave states created. The north supported the movement because
there was a huge push to end slavery in the United States. Members of the
movement emphasized the threat that slavery would pose to free white labor
and northern businessmen in the new western territories. The Free Soil
Movement became a political party with Marian Van Buren as their presidential
nominee. The party had a huge representation in congress with sixteen elected
officials. The party had twelve Free-Soil congressman that held the balance of
power in the House of Representatives. The party was also well represented in
several state Legislatures. This power in the House gave them a huge influence
in American politics. The party’s legacy was creating a route for anti-slavery
Democrats to join the new Republican coalition. The party later got absorbed
into the newly formed Republican Party, which represented the Free-Soil idea of opposing the expansion of slavery. The
Free-Soil movement was written about by Fredrick Douglass in his biography Life and Times of Frederick Douglass. He
describes his experience of attending the Free-Soil Convention by saying
“The conviction became general that the time had come for a new organization which should embrace
all who were in any manner opposed to slavery and the slave power, and this Buffalo Free-Soil
convention was the result of that conviction.”
The south was scared that a movement like this will make them less represented in court and later lose their right to slavery.
Slavery was a key part of their agricultural economy and if they lost their slaves, their economy
would take a big hit. People in the north believed that slavery possessed a threat to the future of
the American economy. The Free-Soilers’ historic slogan calling for “free soil, free speech, free
labor, and free men” attracted small farmers, debtors, village merchants, and household and mill
workers, who resented the prospect of black labor competition, whether slave or free in the
territories. The Free-Soil movement was a stepping stone that helped encourage other movements
like the Abolitionist movement which led to the freedom of slaves. The movement was able to
levy great impact even though it was only supported by northerners that wanted an end to slavery
and not anyone from the south because they feared that the end of slavery threatened their economy. The Free-Soil
movement was short but influential in the impact that it had on ending slavery for the United States.
Website: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Free-Soil-Party