What was the Wilmot Proviso and what did it do?
The Wilmot Proviso was designed to eliminate slavery within the land acquired as a result of the Mexican War (1846-48).
What was the Wilmot Bill of Rights?
Soon after the war began, President James K. Polk sought the appropriation of $2 million as part of a bill to negotiate the terms of a treaty. Fearing the addition of a pro-slave territory, Pennsylvania Congressman David Wilmot proposed his amendment to the bill.
Why did the Proviso passed the Senate but not the House?
On February 1, 1847, the Senate approved the bill but rejected the proviso. As a result, the proviso never went into effect. The proviso passed the House of Representatives because a majority of the representatives came from the North. Under the United States Constitution, each state received representatives based on that state’s population.
Did Wilmot support the anti-slavery movement?
However, by August 1846, Wilmot did not want to bend to the will of the slave power anymore and advocated for anti-slavery positions, which included his proviso. In the 1840s there was a large variety of positions within the anti-slavery movement.
When was the Proviso introduced in the House of Representatives?
Congressman David Wilmot first introduced the proviso in the United States House of Representatives on August 8, 1846, as a rider on a $2,000,000 appropriations bill intended for the final negotiations to resolve the Mexican-American War (this was only three months into the two-year war).
What was the purpose of Wilmot’s Amendment?
The stubborn revivals of Wilmot’s amendment served a purpose as it kept the issue of enslavement alive in Congress and thus before the American people. The issue was finally addressed early in 1850 in a series of Senate debates, which featured the legendary figures Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, and Daniel Webster.