Dinner Party & Coming Election, 1848, Week 1

    Last night, my father invited a group of friends coming over for dinner from Pennsylvania, and most of them were wealthy businessmen or factory owners. While I was having a struggle with that roasted gigot, these men had a heated discussion over the coming president election.
    "I would definitely vote for Taylor." said my father, "He's the only one who hears our voice. The others are shameful abolitionists who support the Wilmot Proviso!"
    "Why not the Democrats? I favor popular sovereignty. People living on the land won from Mexico should make their own decisions about whether to be free or not." a friend argued.
    The discussion kept going for over an hour, and the topic was mostly about the issue of slavery. The guests held different views upon the election, but they all opposed one of the candidates -- Martin Van Buren from a new party called the Free Soil Party. I asked my father what it was, and he showed me a flyer of this party.

Flyer of the Free Soil Party

    No slavery!? How ridiculous! My parents always tell me that slavery is the core of economy, and it's good for our nation. If slavery is abolished, thousands of slaves will have to compete with the poor northern freemen in order to get a position in industrial works. And no one will keep working on our plantations!

    I think slavery system should be spread deeper into the west, including the newly gained land from the Mexican-American War. Slavery provides the uncivilized people a better way of life -- although they are not free, they get protection, food and shelter, and a guaranteed opportunity to labor! I don't see why some northerners want abolition... Slavery is good, I truly believe.

Bibliography

Earle & Drew. "Broadside." Massachusetts Historical Society. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 

     Jan. 2016. <http://www.masshist.org/database/viewer.php?item_id=431>.