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The Free Soil Party was a short-lived political party
Political party

A political party is a political organization that seeks to attain and maintain politics power within government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns....
 in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 active in the 1848 and 1852 presidential elections, and in some state elections. It was a third party
Third party (United States)

The term third party is used in the United States for a political party in the United States other than one of the two major parties, at present, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party ....
 that largely appealed to and drew its leadership from former anti-slavery members of the Whig Party
Whig Party (United States)

The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from 1833 to 1856, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President of the United States Andrew Jackson and the Democratic Party ....
 and the Democratic Party
History of the United States Democratic Party

The history of the Democratic Party of the United States is an account of the oldest political party in the United States and arguably the oldest democratic party in the world....
; its membership was largely absorbed by the Republican Party
History of the United States Republican Party

The Republican Party is the second oldest currently existing political party in the United States....
 in 1854. Its main purpose was opposing the expansion of slavery
Slavery

Slavery is a form of forced labor where a person is compelled to Labor for another . Slaves are held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase, or birth, and are deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to receive Remuneration in return for their labor....
 into the western territories, arguing that free men on free soil comprised a morally and economically superior system to slavery.






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The Free Soil Party was a short-lived political party
Political party

A political party is a political organization that seeks to attain and maintain politics power within government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns....
 in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 active in the 1848 and 1852 presidential elections, and in some state elections. It was a third party
Third party (United States)

The term third party is used in the United States for a political party in the United States other than one of the two major parties, at present, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party ....
 that largely appealed to and drew its leadership from former anti-slavery members of the Whig Party
Whig Party (United States)

The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from 1833 to 1856, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President of the United States Andrew Jackson and the Democratic Party ....
 and the Democratic Party
History of the United States Democratic Party

The history of the Democratic Party of the United States is an account of the oldest political party in the United States and arguably the oldest democratic party in the world....
; its membership was largely absorbed by the Republican Party
History of the United States Republican Party

The Republican Party is the second oldest currently existing political party in the United States....
 in 1854. Its main purpose was opposing the expansion of slavery
Slavery

Slavery is a form of forced labor where a person is compelled to Labor for another . Slaves are held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase, or birth, and are deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to receive Remuneration in return for their labor....
 into the western territories, arguing that free men on free soil comprised a morally and economically superior system to slavery. They opposed slavery in the new territories and worked to remove existing laws discriminating against freed blacks in states such as Ohio
Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern United States U.S. state of the United States. As part of the Great Lakes region , Ohio has long been a cultural and geographical crossroads in North America....
.

Positions


Free Soil candidates ran on the platform that declared: "...we inscribe on our banner, 'Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor and Free Men,' and under it we will fight on and fight ever, until a triumphant victory shall reward our exertions."

The party also called for a homestead act
Homestead Act

Homestead Act was a United States Federal law that gave an applicant freehold title to 160 acres -640 acres of undeveloped land outside of the original 13 colonies....
 and a tariff for revenue only. The Free Soil Party's main support came from areas of upstate New York, western Massachusetts, and Ohio, although other northern states also had representatives.

The Free Soil Party contended that slavery undermined the dignity of labor and inhibited social mobility, and was therefore fundamentally un-Democratic. Viewing slavery as an economically inefficient, obsolete institution, Free Soilers argued that slavery should be contained, and that if contained it would ultimately disappear.

First convention

Free Soil Campaign Banner
In 1848, the first party convention was held in Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York

Buffalo , is the second largest city in the state of New York. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River, Buffalo is the principal city of the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area and the county seat of Erie County, New York....
, where the Free Soilers nominated former Democratic President Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren

Martin Van Buren was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 1837 to 1841. Before his presidency, he served as the List of Vice Presidents of the United States Vice President of the United States and the 10th United States Secretary of State under Andrew Jackson....
 for president with Charles Francis Adams
Charles Francis Adams, Sr.

Charles Francis Adams, Sr. , was an United States lawyer, politician, diplomat and writer. He was the son of President John Quincy Adams and Louisa Adams and the grandson of President John Adams and Abigail Adams....
 for vice president at Lafayette Square
Lafayette Square, Buffalo

Lafayette Square is a park in the center of downtown Buffalo, New York, , United States that hosts a American Civil War monument. The block, which was once square, is lined by many of the List of tallest buildings in Buffalo buildings....
 then known as Court House Park. The main party leaders were Salmon P. Chase
Salmon P. Chase

Salmon Portland Chase was an United States politician and jurist in the American Civil War era who served as United States Senator from Ohio and List of Governors of Ohio of Ohio; as United States Secretary of the Treasury under President of the United States Abraham Lincoln; and as Chief Justice of the United States....
 of Ohio and John P. Hale
John P. Hale

John Parker Hale was an United States politician and lawyer from New Hampshire. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1843 to 1845 and in the United States Senate from 1847 to 1853 and again from 1855 to 1865....
 of New Hampshire. The Free Soil candidates won no electoral votes, in part because the nomination of Van Buren discouraged many anti-slavery Whigs from joining the Free Soil Party.

Compromise of 1850

The Compromise of 1850
Compromise of 1850

The Compromise of 1850 was a series of bills aimed at resolving the territorial and slavery controversies arising from the Mexican-American War ....
 undercut the party's no-compromise position, and its vote fell off.

Legacy

The Free Soil Party was a notable third party. More successful than most, it sent two Senators
United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism United States Congress, the lower house being the United States House of Representatives....
 and fourteen Representatives
United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives, commonly referred to as "the House", is one of the bicameralism of the United States Congress; the other is the United States Senate....
 to the thirty-first Congress. Its presidential nominee in 1848, Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren

Martin Van Buren was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 1837 to 1841. Before his presidency, he served as the List of Vice Presidents of the United States Vice President of the United States and the 10th United States Secretary of State under Andrew Jackson....
, received 291,616 votes against Zachary Taylor
Zachary Taylor

Zachary Taylor was an Military of the United States and the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States.Known as "Old Rough and Ready", Taylor had a 40-year military career in the United States Army, serving in the War of 1812, Black Hawk War, and Seminole Wars before achieving fame leading U.S....
 of the Whigs and Lewis Cass
Lewis Cass

Lewis Cass was an United States military officer and politician. During his long political career, Cass served as a governor of the Michigan Territory, an American ambassador, and a United States Senate representing Michigan....
 of the Democrats; Van Buren received no electoral votes. The Party's "spoiler
Spoiler effect

The "spoiler effect" is a term to describe the effect a minor party candidate with little chance of winning can have on a close election, in which their candidacy results in the election being won by a candidate dissimilar to them rather than a candidate similar to them....
" effect in 1848 may have put Zachary Taylor into office in a narrowly-contested election.

The strength of the party, however, was its representation in Congress. The sixteen elected officials' influence far exceeded its numbers. The party's most important legacy was as a route for anti-slavery Democrats to join the new Republican coalition.

In Ottawa, Illinois, in August, 1854, an alliance was brokered between the Free Soil Party and the Whigs (in part based on the efforts of local newspaper publisher Jonathan F. Linton) that gave rise to the Republican Party

Presidential candidates

Year Presidential candidate Vice Presidential candidates Won/Lost
1848 Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren

Martin Van Buren was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 1837 to 1841. Before his presidency, he served as the List of Vice Presidents of the United States Vice President of the United States and the 10th United States Secretary of State under Andrew Jackson....
 Charles Francis Adams
Charles Francis Adams, Sr.

Charles Francis Adams, Sr. , was an United States lawyer, politician, diplomat and writer. He was the son of President John Quincy Adams and Louisa Adams and the grandson of President John Adams and Abigail Adams....
 Lost
1852 John P. Hale
John P. Hale

John Parker Hale was an United States politician and lawyer from New Hampshire. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1843 to 1845 and in the United States Senate from 1847 to 1853 and again from 1855 to 1865....
 George W. Julian
George Washington Julian

George Washington Julian was a nineteenth century politician, lawyer and writer from Indiana. He was the son-in-law of Joshua Reed Giddings.Born in Centerville, Indiana, Julian received a common school education....
 Lost


Other Famous Free Soilers

  • Charles Francis Adams, Sr.
    Charles Francis Adams, Sr.

    Charles Francis Adams, Sr. , was an United States lawyer, politician, diplomat and writer. He was the son of President John Quincy Adams and Louisa Adams and the grandson of President John Adams and Abigail Adams....
    , Party's vice presidential
    Vice President of the United States

    The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office in the United States of America created by the Constitution of the United States....
     candidate in 1848
    United States presidential election, 1848

    The United States presidential election of 1848 was an open race. President of the United States James K. Polk, having achieved virtually all of his objectives in one term and suffering from declining health that would take his life less than four months after leaving office, kept his promise not to seek re-election....
  • Salmon P. Chase
    Salmon P. Chase

    Salmon Portland Chase was an United States politician and jurist in the American Civil War era who served as United States Senator from Ohio and List of Governors of Ohio of Ohio; as United States Secretary of the Treasury under President of the United States Abraham Lincoln; and as Chief Justice of the United States....
    , U.S. Senator from Ohio
  • Charles Sumner
    Charles Sumner

    Charles Sumner was an United States and statesman from Massachusetts. An academic lawyer and a powerful orator, Sumner was the leader of the antislavery forces in Massachusetts and a leader of the Radical Republican in the United States Senate during the American Civil War and Reconstruction era of the United States along with Thaddeus Stev...
    , U.S. Senator from Massachusetts
  • David C. Broderick
    David C. Broderick

    David Colbreth Broderick was a United States Senator and an anti-slavery advocate. He was the first cousin of Andrew Kennedy and Case Broderick....
    , U.S. Senator from California
  • Oren B. Cheney
    Oren B. Cheney

    Oren Burbank Cheney was the founder of Bates College, an abolitionist, and a Free Will Baptist clergyman....
    , legislator from Maine, founder of Bates College
    Bates College

    Bates College is a highly selective, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States located in Lewiston, Maine, in the United States. The college was founded in 1855 by Abolitionism....
  • William Cullen Bryant
    William Cullen Bryant

    William Cullen Bryant was an United States romantic poetry, journalist, and long-time editor of the New York Evening Post....
  • Walt Whitman
    Walt Whitman

    Walter Whitman was an United States Poetry of the United States, essayist, journalism, and humanism. He was a part of the transition between Transcendentalism and literary realism, incorporating both views in his works....
  • Joshua Reed Giddings
    Joshua Reed Giddings

    Joshua Reed Giddings was an United States statesman prominent in the anti-slavery conflict....
    , congressman from Ohio
  • Henry Wilson
    Henry Wilson

    Henry Wilson was a United States Senate from Massachusetts and the List of Vice Presidents of the United States Vice President of the United States....
  • George W. Julian
  • Horace Mann
    Horace Mann

    Horace Mann was an United States education reformer, and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1827 to 1833. He served in the Massachusetts Senate from 1834-1837....


See also

  • Second Party System
    Second Party System

    The Second Party System is a term of periodization used by historians and political scientists to name the political system existing in the United States from about 1828 to 1854....
  • Origins of the American Civil War
    Origins of the American Civil War

    The main explanation for the origins of the American Civil War is Slavery in the United States, especially the issue of the expansion of slavery into the Territories of the United States....
  • Appeal of the Independent Democrats
    Appeal of the Independent Democrats

    The Appeal of the Independent Democrats was a manifesto issued in January, 1854, in response to the introduction into the United States Senate of the Kansas-Nebraska Act....


Further reading

  • Frederick J. Blue; Salmon P. Chase: A Life in Politics 1987
  • Frederick J. Blue. The Free Soilers: Third Party Politics, 1848-54 (1973)
  • Martin Duberman; Charles Francis Adams, 1807-1886 1968.
  • T. C. Smith, Liberty and Free Soil Parties in the Northwest (New York, 1897)