jan 1, 1848 - Election of 1848

Description:

-debates over westward expansion
-free soil movement- ordinary northerners joined a popular movement for access to public lands (pressured US government to give land to poor farmers); depicted slavery as a threat to Republicanism and Jeffersonian ideal of a freeholder society
-conflict over slavery
-Polk decided to not run again because of scorn from Whigs and freesoilers
-Democrats nominated Lewis Cass - supported squatter sovereignty in which settlers of each territory could decide if it was free or slave -> northern Democrats did not support
Whigs nominated Zachary Taylor - defended slavery in the South but not in territories -> support in North

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