Wilmont Proviso 1846

On August 8, 1846, David Wilmont introduced a bill stating that slavery shall never exist in any terrritory the US might obtain from war with Mexico. This meant that territories out west such as California, Utah, and New Mexico. The Wilmont Proviso divided congress along regional lines. The northerners supported the proviso and the Southerners opposed it. Southerners feared that if the bill becomes a law, northerners, would have more power in congress than the south. The bill was then rejected by the senate.