The Aftermath

Intensified sectional conflict within Congress

Although the proviso had failed, that doesn't mean it came and went without any repercussions. To the South, Wilmot's proposal seemed like a reflection of the North's "holier-than-thou" attitude, which was infuriating to southerners. They saw the proviso as the a Northern attack on the institution of slavery, after it had been kept out of the realm of discussion for so long. In this way did the Wilmot Proviso fuel sectional tensions within politics, and within parties as well.

The Most Immediate Repercussions

were made apparent in the 1848 Democratic National Convention. The Barnburners, after being blocked by the Hunkers to send a group of pro-proviso delegates, sent their own batch of delegates to participate in the convention. But when the Democrats rejected a pro-proviso platform, the Barnburners walked from the convention.

To the Barnburners, the Democratic party was beginning to become one that served only Southern interests. The walk from the convention was a counter to their feelings of being used by Southerners for votes in Congress to achieve their own goals.

To the Southern Democrats: The existence of the Wilmot Proviso and Democrats that supported it proved that Northern Democrats were beginning to become unwilling to follow the South's lead on slavery and other sectional issues. This, to the South, was a strike on the very concept of political party, almost akin to a betrayal.

The Situation That the Wilmot Proviso Had Created Wasn't Pleasant.

The nation's politics had been polarized over the issue of the expansion of slavery.

The North demanded the banning of slavery in any new territory.

The South demanded free entry of slavery into any new territory.

Both sides took the issue personally, but that could only be expected.

It was personal: personal to them and the region from which they hailed.

The Wilmot Proviso had kick-started a chain reaction that would ignite contempt between the North and the South in the political world. This only could lead to a gradual breakdown in civil discourse.

Marking the beginning of the Era of Incivility in Antebellum America.