What ideas did the Free Soil Party promote?

The Free Soil Party was against the continuation of slavery. It was a political party whose members were originally from the Democratic party. In 1848 at its convention in New York State, members of the Democratic party failed to endorse a ban on slavery in any territories that were won in the Mexican-American war--Texas being one such territory. Some of the members of the Democratic party were opposed to this continuation of slavery and broke away to form the Free Soil Party. One of its members, Martin Van Buren had already served as president from 1837-1841 when the party was formed in 1848. The Free Soil Party was not an abolitionist movement. It was against slavery not because slavery was cruel but because the existence of slavery would undermine the dignity of almost all physical labor that was not slavery.