aug 8, 1846 - Wilmot Proviso

Description:

Senator David Wilmot (D-PA) feared that future southern annexations from the soon-to-begin Mexican War would result in unfair growth of slave territories. His Wilmot Proviso would have turned any annexed territories into free territories and states by default; Congress formed a sectional divide, and the proposal passed in the House of Representatives, but failed in the Senate where southern states had more representation.