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The '''Free Soil party''' was a short-lived political party in the [[United States]] at the end of the [[Second Party System]]. It ran presidential candidates in 1848 and 1852, and some state candidates. After the Compromise of 1850 undercut its position some members returned to the Democratic party, others supported [[John P. Hale]] for president in 1852, but he had little impact on the election. Most of the members by 1856 or 1860 joined the new [[Republican Party]].
It was a breakaway faction of the [[U.S. Democratic Party, history|Democratic Party]] and was largely absorbed by the [[U.S. Republican Party, history|Republican Party]] in 1854. Its main purpose was opposing the expansion of slavery into the territories, arguing that free men on free soil comprised a morally and economically superior system to slavery. The free soilers were against the expansion of slavery but not the idea of slavery; their goal was to gain the land to the west, and keep the land free of slaves. Slavery was seen as a social bad because it hurt free men, but (unlike the abolitionists) they did not denounce it as sinful.
==Positions==
Free Soil candidates ran on the platform that declared: "...we inscribe on our banner, 'Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor and Free Man,' 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]] and a tariff for revenue only (as opposed to a protective high tariff). The Free Soil Party attracted mainly [[Yankees]] from the Northeast and upper Midwest, especially Yankee areas of upstate New York, western Massachusetts, and northern Ohio.
[[Image:1848free.jpg|thumb|450px|Van Buren / Adams campaign banner.]]
==First convention==
In 1848, the first party convention was held in Buffalo, New York, where the party nominated former Democratic President [[Martin Van Buren]] of New York, with [[Charles Francis Adams]] of Massachusetts as vice president. The main party leaders were senators [[Salmon P. Chase]] of Ohio and [[John P. Hale]] of New Hampshire. They won no electoral votes.
==Legacy==
The Free Soil Party more successful than most third parties. It elected Congressmen, sending two senators and fourteen representatives to the thirty-first Congress, elected in 1848. Its presidential nominee in 1848, Van Buren, received 291,616 votes against [[Zachary Taylor]] of the Whigs and [[Lewis Cass]] of the Democrats; Van Buren received no electoral votes. The Party's "spoiler" effect in 1848 probably put Taylor into office in a narrowly-contested election. Its long-term impact was to allow antislavery Democrats an easy transition into the Republican party, which formed in 1854 and incorporated Free Soil principles. Important Republicans included Senator [[Charles Sumner]], architect of [[Reconstruction]], Vice President [[Henry Wilson]] and Treasury Secretary [[Salmon P. Chase]].
==Leading Free Soilers==
*[[Charles Francis Adams, Sr.]], vice presidential candidate in 1848, later minister to Britain
*[[William Cullen Bryant]], New York editor and poet
*[[Salmon P. Chase]], senator from Ohio
*[[Samuel Hoar]], Massachusetts politician
*Francis Kernan, New York politician
*John Letcher, Congressman from Virginia
*[[Charles Sumner]], senator from Massachusetts
*Benjamin Tappan, Senator from Ohio
*[[Walt Whitman]], New York editor; later a famous poet
*[[Henry Wilson]], Massachusetts politician; later Vice President
==See also==
* [[Second Party System]]
==Bibliography==
* Blue, Frederick J. ''Salmon P. Chase: A Life in Politics'' 1987 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=22807164 online edition]
* Blue, Frederick J. ''The Free Soilers: Third Party Politics, 1848-54'' (1973)
* Duberman, Martin. ''Charles Francis Adams, 1807-1886'' 1968. [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=55272069 online edition]
* Foner, Eric. ''Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men: The Ideology of the Republican Party before the Civil War'' 1970 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=90104191 online edition]
* Gardiner, Oliver Gromwell. ''The Great Issue, Or, The Three Presidential Candidates'' (1848) [http://books.google.com/books?id=-2k0OvQSbuAC&printsec=titlepage&dq=intitle:free+intitle:soil&num=30&as_brr=1 online edition from books.google.com]
* Nevins, Allan. ''Ordeal of the Union'' (1947), vol. 1
* Smith, T. C. ''Liberty and Free Soil Parties in the Northwest'' (1897) [http://books.google.com/books?id=nCAIAAAAIAAJ&printsec=toc&dq=intitle:free+intitle:soil&num=30&as_brr=1&sig=ZMC4DVrv91u9yzS1VJ1rr5hTkuA online edition from books.google.com]
====notes====
<references/>
It was a breakaway faction of the [[U.S. Democratic Party, history|Democratic Party]] and was largely absorbed by the [[U.S. Republican Party, history|Republican Party]] in 1854. Its main purpose was opposing the expansion of slavery into the territories, arguing that free men on free soil comprised a morally and economically superior system to slavery. The free soilers were against the expansion of slavery but not the idea of slavery; their goal was to gain the land to the west, and keep the land free of slaves. Slavery was seen as a social bad because it hurt free men, but (unlike the abolitionists) they did not denounce it as sinful.
==Positions==
Free Soil candidates ran on the platform that declared: "...we inscribe on our banner, 'Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor and Free Man,' 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]] and a tariff for revenue only (as opposed to a protective high tariff). The Free Soil Party attracted mainly [[Yankees]] from the Northeast and upper Midwest, especially Yankee areas of upstate New York, western Massachusetts, and northern Ohio.
[[Image:1848free.jpg|thumb|450px|Van Buren / Adams campaign banner.]]
==First convention==
In 1848, the first party convention was held in Buffalo, New York, where the party nominated former Democratic President [[Martin Van Buren]] of New York, with [[Charles Francis Adams]] of Massachusetts as vice president. The main party leaders were senators [[Salmon P. Chase]] of Ohio and [[John P. Hale]] of New Hampshire. They won no electoral votes.
==Legacy==
The Free Soil Party more successful than most third parties. It elected Congressmen, sending two senators and fourteen representatives to the thirty-first Congress, elected in 1848. Its presidential nominee in 1848, Van Buren, received 291,616 votes against [[Zachary Taylor]] of the Whigs and [[Lewis Cass]] of the Democrats; Van Buren received no electoral votes. The Party's "spoiler" effect in 1848 probably put Taylor into office in a narrowly-contested election. Its long-term impact was to allow antislavery Democrats an easy transition into the Republican party, which formed in 1854 and incorporated Free Soil principles. Important Republicans included Senator [[Charles Sumner]], architect of [[Reconstruction]], Vice President [[Henry Wilson]] and Treasury Secretary [[Salmon P. Chase]].
==Leading Free Soilers==
*[[Charles Francis Adams, Sr.]], vice presidential candidate in 1848, later minister to Britain
*[[William Cullen Bryant]], New York editor and poet
*[[Salmon P. Chase]], senator from Ohio
*[[Samuel Hoar]], Massachusetts politician
*Francis Kernan, New York politician
*John Letcher, Congressman from Virginia
*[[Charles Sumner]], senator from Massachusetts
*Benjamin Tappan, Senator from Ohio
*[[Walt Whitman]], New York editor; later a famous poet
*[[Henry Wilson]], Massachusetts politician; later Vice President
==See also==
* [[Second Party System]]
==Bibliography==
* Blue, Frederick J. ''Salmon P. Chase: A Life in Politics'' 1987 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=22807164 online edition]
* Blue, Frederick J. ''The Free Soilers: Third Party Politics, 1848-54'' (1973)
* Duberman, Martin. ''Charles Francis Adams, 1807-1886'' 1968. [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=55272069 online edition]
* Foner, Eric. ''Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men: The Ideology of the Republican Party before the Civil War'' 1970 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=90104191 online edition]
* Gardiner, Oliver Gromwell. ''The Great Issue, Or, The Three Presidential Candidates'' (1848) [http://books.google.com/books?id=-2k0OvQSbuAC&printsec=titlepage&dq=intitle:free+intitle:soil&num=30&as_brr=1 online edition from books.google.com]
* Nevins, Allan. ''Ordeal of the Union'' (1947), vol. 1
* Smith, T. C. ''Liberty and Free Soil Parties in the Northwest'' (1897) [http://books.google.com/books?id=nCAIAAAAIAAJ&printsec=toc&dq=intitle:free+intitle:soil&num=30&as_brr=1&sig=ZMC4DVrv91u9yzS1VJ1rr5hTkuA online edition from books.google.com]
====notes====
<references/>