2. Slavery was the main issue that divided the North and the South. The Northern states had banned slavery, while the Southern states relied heavily on it. The North viewed slavery as morally repugnant and detrimental to the free labor system in the North, while the South saw it as essential to their economic prosperity.
3. The Free Soil Party, which opposed the expansion of slavery into new territories, gained strength in the North. This alarmed Southern states, who feared that the expansion of free states would tip the balance of power in the Senate and lead to the abolition of slavery.
4. The Dred Scott Supreme Court decision, which ruled that enslaved African Americans could not be citizens and therefore had no right to sue in federal court, further inflamed tensions between the North and the South. The decision was widely condemned in the North and many Northern states passed personal liberty laws to nullify it.
5. The issue of Fugitive Slave Act, which required Northern states to return escaped slaves to their owners, also increased tensions between the North and the South. Northern states resisted this law and passed laws that made it more difficult for slave owners to recover their escaped slaves.