"I make no war upon the South nor upon slavery in the South. I have no squeamish sensitiveness upon the subject of slavery, nor morbid sympathy for the slave. I plead the cause of the rights of white freemen. I would preserve for free white labor a fair country, a rich inheritance, where the sons of toil, of my own race and color, can go and settle, to cultivate the earth with their own hands... I would preserve the free soil of the West for the free white man."
— Representative David Wilmot, speech in Congress, 1847
Which of the following best describes the primary political motive behind the position outlined in the excerpt?
- ATo establish popular sovereignty as a means for the federal government to directly regulate the domestic institutions of territories.
- To exclude slavery from the territories acquired from Mexico in order to protect white laborers from competing with slave labor.Answer
- CTo resolve sectional divisions by focusing on federal tariff reform rather than addressing the status of slavery in the West.
- DTo justify the annexation of western lands as a defensive measure to enforce the Monroe Doctrine against European colonization.
Answer
To exclude slavery from the territories acquired from Mexico in order to protect white laborers from competing with slave labor.
The correct option is supported by the excerpt, which shows that the primary motivation of the free-soil position was to preserve the newly acquired western territories for free white labor, thereby preventing competition with enslaved labor. Wilmot openly disclaims any moral opposition to Southern slavery, focusing instead on the economic protection of white workers.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
The Wilmot Proviso and the Free Soil movement's economic argument against the expansion of slavery following the Mexican-American War.
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