What was the main goal of the Free Soil Party?

• A. To stop immigration and stop slavery from spreading to the West.
• B. To promote rapid industrial growth in the North.
• C. To advocate immediate abolition in all states.
• D. To support expansion of slavery into new territories.

Answer: (B)

The main idea here is understanding what the Free Soil Party stood for in the mid-1800s. They argued that newly acquired western territories should be kept free of slavery to protect opportunities for free labor and to ensure those lands remained “free soil.” They did not push for immediate nationwide abolition or for rapid industrial growth, and they opposed expanding slavery into new territories.

So, the core aim of the Free Soil Party was to prevent the spread of slavery into the western territories, keeping those new lands free for free white workers and non-slaveholding settlers.