Abolitionism and the Free Soil Party were both movements that emerged in the 19th century United States, but they had different focuses and motivations.
Abolitionism was primarily a moral and ethical campaign aimed at ending slavery entirely. Abolitionists believed that slavery was a profound injustice and worked tirelessly to promote the immediacy of emancipation for enslaved people. This movement was characterized by intense activism, including the establishment of societies, newspapers, and networks for aiding escaping slaves, as well as a robust rhetoric calling for full civil rights for former slaves.
On the other hand, the Free Soil Party was more politically driven and focused specifically on preventing the expansion of slavery into the territories of the United States. Founded in 1848, the party’s main platform was that while they did not necessarily call for the abolition of slavery in the states where it already existed, they opposed its spread into new lands being acquired by the U.S. The Free Soil Party campaigned for ‘free soil, free labor, and free men,’ emphasizing the importance of keeping new territories free from the institution of slavery so that they could be settled by free white workers.
In summary, while both movements were concerned with the issue of slavery, abolitionism sought to end it completely as a moral imperative, whereas the Free Soil Party focused on the political implications of slavery’s expansion and aimed to ensure that new states remained free. Their approaches to the issue reflected different priorities and strategies in the fight against slavery in America.