Slaveholders opposed the Wilmot Proviso because it aimed to prohibit slavery in the territories acquired from Mexico after the Mexican-American War. They feared it would limit the expansion of slavery into new territories and potentially undermine the balance of power between free and slave states in Congress.
Slaveholders opposed the Wilmot Proviso because it sought to prohibit slavery in the newly acquired territories from the Mexican-American War. They saw it as a threat to their way of life and ability to expand slavery into new territories. Additionally, they believed it violated their property rights.
Southern planters opposed the Wilmot Proviso because it sought to prohibit slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico, threatening their economic interests and political power. They feared it would upset the delicate balance between free and slave states, potentially leading to the abolition of slavery in the United States.
Slaveholders wanted poor whites to feel superior to slaves, so that they would not unite with slaves to challenge the existing power structure. By convincing poor whites that they were better than slaves, slaveholders ensured that their control over slaves remained unchallenged. Additionally, slaveholders sought to maintain social order and stability by preventing potential uprisings or rebellions.
Douglass uses words like "tyrant," "cruel," "inhuman," and "degrading" to describe slaveholders, revealing his view of them as oppressive and immoral individuals who perpetuate the institution of slavery through violence and exploitation.
needed their political support
Slaveholders opposed the Wilmot Proviso because Slaveholders argued that slaves were property by the Constitution
Whig
Introduced by David Wilmont, the wilmont proviso proposed to ban slavery in any territory gained from, or after the Mexican American War.
they thought it was unfair
Slaveholders claimed the Wilmot Proviso was unconstitutional because they argued that it violated the Fifth Amendment rights of slaveholders by depriving them of their property (slaves) without due process of law. They believed that Congress did not have the authority to ban slavery in the territories.
It declared that there should be no slavery allowed in any of the new territories acquired from Mexico.
Slavery would not be allowed in any territory acqired from the Republic of Mexico.
to gain political power in both congressional houses for the free states. Wilmont proviso bans slavery of any type in the Mexican cession territories. Those will then be divided up into free states than when entered into the union will give the free states more senators and more reps.
because slaves were property protected by the constitution
The Wilmot Proviso declared that none of the newly-acquired Mexican territories should become slave-states. The Abolitionists strongly supported this belief, and it drove the two sides further apart.
It polarised opinion by declaring that there could be no slavery in any new state or territory. This removed any hope of compromise, and it was the sticking-point in Lincoln's last-minute attempt to avoid a conflict.
Because it would have forbidden any extension of slavery, and as new states opened up in the West, the slave-states would have been increasingly out-voted when passing new laws in Congress.