# Free Soil Party The Free Soil Party (1848–1854) was a single-issue third party organized to oppose the **expansion of slavery into the western territories** acquired in the Mexican-American War. Its slogan — "Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men" — framed the cause not primarily as abolition where slavery already existed, but as keeping new lands open for free white labor and independent farmers. It drew "Conscience Whigs," anti-slavery ("Barnburner") Democrats, and former members of the abolitionist Liberty Party. The party ran former president [[Martin Van Buren]] in 1848, winning no electoral votes but enough popular votes to affect the outcome, and elected a bloc of congressmen who held the balance of power in a closely divided House. Its real significance is as the **direct organizational and ideological precursor to the [[Republican Party]]**: when the [[Kansas-Nebraska Act]] (1854) reopened the territorial slavery question, Free Soilers were among the core founders of the new anti-slavery Republican coalition. ## See Also - [[Whig Party]] — the party whose anti-slavery wing it drew from - [[Republican Party]] — the successor coalition - [[Know-Nothing Party]] — the rival third party of the 1850s - [[Second Party System]] · [[Kansas-Nebraska Act]]