Free Soil Party

The Free Soil Party was, for a short duration, a political party in the United States. It was active in the 1848 and 1852 president elections, and in some state elections. It got lots of its strength from New York. Most of the important party members were former anti-slavery  members of the Whig Party and the Democratic Party. Its main purpose was stopping slavery from spreading into the western lands, arguing that free men on free soil had a morally and economically better system than slavery.  Also, many workers feared that slave labor would take away work for white workers.

The party membership was largely taken over by the Republican Party in 1854.

 Further reading 
Frederick J. Blue; Salmon P. Chase: A Life in Politics 1987 
Frederick J. Blue. The Free Soilers: Third Party Politics, 1848-54 (1973) 
Martin Duberman; Charles Francis Adams, 1807-1886 1968. 

T. C. Smith, Liberty and Free Soil Parties in the Northwest (New York, 1897)

 Other websites 

Category:Political parties in the United States