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Difficulty: HardSectional Compromises and Legislative Crises

Representative David Wilmot, Speech in the House of Representatives, 1847

"I call upon the gentlemen of the South... to state if they do not find in this Proviso a justification of their own course... 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 stand for the integrity of the territory. I ask that free territory shall remain free for the emigration of free white men; for the honest, industrious laborers of the North, who go there to settle... and not be degraded by contact with the labor of black slaves."

The sentiment expressed in the excerpt best reflects which of the following positions in the debates over the expansion of slavery?

  1. The Free-Soil argument that western lands should be kept free from slavery to protect white laborers from competing with enslaved laborAnswer
  2. B
    The advocacy of popular sovereignty, which proposed that the federal executive branch should determine whether slavery would be permitted in newly acquired territories
  3. C
    The doctrine of popular sovereignty, which argued that the U.S. Congress should hold a nationwide referendum to decide the legal status of slavery in western lands
  4. D
    The southern view that sectional tensions over territorial expansion were primarily driven by disagreements over federal protective tariffs

Answer

The Free-Soil argument that western lands should be kept free from slavery to protect white laborers from competing with enslaved labor
The correct answer identifies the Free-Soil argument, which opposed the expansion of slavery primarily to prevent enslaved labor from competing with free white labor in the West. This matches Wilmot's explicit language that he is protecting 'free white men' and 'laborers of the North' from being 'degraded by contact' with slavery, while clarifying he is not arguing from a moral abolitionist perspective.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the primary source speech by Representative David Wilmot.
Wilmot states that he makes no war on southern slavery and lacks moral sympathy for the slave, but demands that the new territories be reserved for free white labor.
To identify the core motive behind the legislative proposal (the Wilmot Proviso).
2
Evaluate the choices to find the ideological alignment of the excerpt.
The argument matches the Free-Soil position, which focused on the economic preservation of western lands for white laborers to avoid competing with unpaid enslaved labor.
To match the historical evidence from the text to the correct option.
3
Eliminate options that misrepresent historical concepts.
Options describing popular sovereignty as a decision made by the federal executive or Congress are incorrect because popular sovereignty gave local territorial voters the authority. The option focusing on tariffs is incorrect because the debate was explicitly centered on the expansion of slavery.
To verify the distractors using error taxonomy principles.

Key Concept

Free-Soil Ideology and the Wilmot Proviso
Estimated Time:2m 0s
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Topics

Sectional Compromises and Legislative Crises

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