USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Although the Wilmot Proviso of 1846 didn’t pass with Polk’s appropriations bill, it still left a lasting legacy. The proposed amendment’s purpose was simple and straightforward: slavery and involuntary servitude would be banned forever in all territories acquired as a result of the Mexican-American War.

Detailed explanation-2: -The House adopted the bill and the proviso in its next session. On February 1, 1847, the Senate approved the bill but rejected the proviso. As a result, the proviso never went into effect. The proviso passed the House of Representatives because a majority of the representatives came from the North.

Detailed explanation-3: -Laws require the approval of both houses of Congress, however. The Senate, equally divided between free states and slave states could not muster the majority necessary for approval. Angrily the House passed Wilmot’s Proviso several times, all to no avail. It would never become law.

Detailed explanation-4: -The Wilmot Proviso was an unsuccessful 1846 proposal in the United States Congress to ban slavery in territory acquired from Mexico in the Mexican–American War.