Wily Democrats, through parliamentary maneuvering, inserted a controversial preamble into a bill that provided $50,000 for supplies and 50,000 additional men for Zachary Taylor’s army; and the bill’s preamble declared that the war had been caused by Mexican aggression. As a Northern lawmaker who opposed slavery’s extension, Winthrop opposed the preamble, but as a Whig politician who supported the military, he could hardly vote against supplies and reinforcements (never mind that Taylor neither requested nor needed either). So, like most Whigs, Winthrop cast a “yes” vote. Winthrop insisted that
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