(184048) U.S. political party formed by a splinter group of abolitionists.
It was created by Arthur Tappan and Theodore Weld in opposition to William Lloyd Garrison , who scorned political action as a futile way to end slavery. At its first party convention in 1840, James Birney was nominated for U.S. president. By 1844 the party had influenced undecided legislators in many local elections to adopt antislavery stands. In 1848 it dissolved when many of its members joined the Barnburners (see Hunkers and Barnburners ) to form the Free Soil Party .