Alabama Platform

views updated

ALABAMA PLATFORM

ALABAMA PLATFORM, adopted by the Alabama Democratic state convention in 1848 and approved by other Southern groups, was William L. Yancey's answer to the Wilmot Proviso and squatter sovereignty principles. It demanded congressional protection of slavery in the Mexican Cession. Rejected by the Democratic National Convention in 1848, the principle was adopted by a majority of the Democratic National Convention at Charleston in 1860. When the convention splintered into factions supporting rival candidates, the Alabama Platform emerged as a rallying cry for the Southern secessionists.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Channing, Steven A. Crisis of Fear: Secession in South Carolina. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1970.

Freehling, William W. The Road to Disunion. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990.

Wendell H.Stephenson/a. r.

See alsoSecession ; Wilmot Proviso .

About this article

Alabama Platform

Updated About encyclopedia.com content Print Article