Answer:
The country was a nation divided, due to the differences between the North and the South's political statuses. The North was a financial and industrial mecca, whereas the South had an agricultural economy based on the institution of slavery. Because Southern plantation owners feared that the powerful North would put an end to slavery, political leaders did what they could to ease the sectional conflict. For instance, they passed laws like the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which allowed the acceptance of Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free territory. Nevertheless, the politicians' attempts to maintain a balance between slave and free states became futile as a result of other cases, such as the Fugitive Slave Act, in which the North was forced to return captured slaves back to the South.
Step-by-step explanation: