Free Soil Party

US political party that opposed the extension of slavery into the western territories, formed in 1848. The members were mainly abolitionists, who were formerly identified with the more radical Liberty Party; the antislavery faction of the New York Democrats, known as the Barnburners; and the antislavery Whigs. In 1854 the party was absorbed into the Republican Party.

The defeat in Congress of the Wilmot Proviso (1846), which called for the prohibition of slavery in the newly-acquired territories from Mexico, was one of the main motivations for the creation of the Free Soil Party. Its slogan was ‘free soil, free speech, free labor, and free men’.

Its first convention, in Buffalo, New York, nominated Martin Van Buren to run for president. Although he received less than 10% of the popular vote, he drew enough support in New York from the Democrats to contribute to the election of Whig candidate Zachary Taylor. Free Soil Party candidate John Hale received even fewer votes in 1852, but several Free Soilers were elected to the House of Representatives, where they exercised considerable influence.