| A simple enough statement: David Wilmot, at the time, as a Pennsylvania congressman, had supported the declaration of war. Why did this proviso arouse so much controversy? |
Provided, territory from That, as an express and fundamental condition to the acquisition of any the Republic of Mexico by the United States, by virtue of any treaty which may be negotiated between them, and to the use by the Executive of the moneys herein appropriated, neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of said territory, except for crime, whereof the party shall first be duly convicted
[Passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, 1846 and 1847, never passed by the U.S. Senate]