The Free Soil Party was a political party in the United States active in the mid-19th century, primarily from 1848 to 1854. It emerged in response to the expansion of slavery into the territories acquired from the Mexican-American War. The party's main platform was to prevent the spread of slavery into these new lands, advocating for free homesteads and free labor. The Free Soil Party attracted a coalition of former members from the Whig Party, Democratic Party, and abolitionists. Notable figures included Martin Van Buren, who was their presidential candidate in 1848. Although the party dissolved in the early 1850s, its ideas influenced the formation of the Republican Party.