The Wilmot Proviso & Popular Sovereignty

David Wilmot
http://www.ushistory.org/us/30a.asp

The Wilmot Proviso was propsed by David Wilmot in 1846. David Wilmot was a Democrat form Pennsylvania. The amendment was proposed as an addition to a war appropriations bill. It said that within any territory the U.S. gained from Mexico "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist."

Popular Sovereignty is the right given to the people to decide whether or not slavery should be in their state. General Lewis Cass was a veteran of the War of 1812 and he was considered the father of popular sovereignty. Popular sovereignty was liked by both politicians and the people. The people liked it because the felt they had more power to decide what was best for their region. Politicians liked it because they thought it was a good way to compromise the slavery issues of the abolitionists and the southerners. However, there is one negative aspect that people were concerned about: the fear of slavery
spreading uncontrollably.