The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 38, July 1934 - April, 1935 Page: 242
312 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
acquired from Mexico must INEVITABLY be free territory.
Therefore we believe that the Wilmot Proviso was not intended to
guard the interests of the free states, or to sustain the principle of
freedom; but to throw a firebrand into the national councils-to
aid political tricksters to form sectional parties.23
The Detroit Free Press branded as false the statement that the
Whigs were opposed to territory only because it might be open to
slavery. In support of his contention the editor reminded his
public that northern and western Whigs had also opposed the acqui-
sition of all the Oregon territory which admittedly would have
been free.24 At least one southern newspaper took the same view.
The editor of the New Orleans Picayune thought that there was
nothing to "command fear or respect" about the Wilmot Proviso.
The advocates of the Proviso did not want any territory and there-
fore they had injected the slavery issue into Congressional dis-
cussions in order to prevent expansion.25 In short, the public was
informed that the advocates of Wilmot's proposition were using
the slavery issue to cover up other reasons for opposition to terri-
torial acquisitions.
Toward the close of 1847, leading Democratic politicians at the
North joined in the clamor against the Wilmot Proviso. The
presidential campaign of 1848 was approaching and it was neces-
sary that would-be presidential candidates make some sort of a
statement, if possible, which would not tear down their political
fences. Secretary of State, James Buchanan, and Senator Lewis
Cass both denounced the slavery agitation but were careful to point
out that economic conditions did not point to the existence of
slavery in Mexican territory.20 In a speech at Pittsburg on Sep-
tember 29, 1847, concerning slavery and the Wilmot Proviso, Vice-
President Dallas declared:
The very best thing which can be done, when all is said upon the
subject that may be said, will be to let it alone entirely-leaving
to the people, of the territory to be acquired the business of settling
the matter for themselves; for where slavery has no existence, all
"8March 13, 1847.
'March 22, 1847.
"January 14, 1848.
2"Cass to A. O. P. Nicholson, December 29, 1847; Niles' Register,
LXXIII (1847-1848), 293. Buchanan's sentiments were expressed in a
letter dated August 25, 1847, and published in the Richmond Enquirer,
September 3, 1847.242
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 38, July 1934 - April, 1935, periodical, 1935; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117143/m1/267/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.