Final answer:
The Panic of 1857 made the Civil War more likely by intensifying the debate between the North and the South and causing economic distress and social unrest.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Panic of 1857 made the Civil War more likely by intensifying the debate between the North and the South. The financial panic, caused by the decline in grain exports and European investment, greatly damaged the American economy. As hundreds of thousands of northern workers lost their jobs, tensions rose and the possibility of a class war loomed. The economic distress and social unrest created by the Panic of 1857 further deepened the divide between the North and the South, contributing to the factors that eventually led to the outbreak of the Civil War.