Final answer:
The divergence in views on slavery between the North and South, amplified by economic differences and contrasting interpretations of liberty, escalated tensions that led to the American Civil War.
Step-by-step explanation:
The differing views of slavery between the North and south in the mid-19th century catalyzed tensions that eventually erupted into the American Civil War. While northerners grew increasingly skeptical of a perceived slave power conspiracy dominating national politics, southerners feared the influence and intentions of abolitionists. This ideological battle was heightened by the fact that both regions viewed their stances as defensive of liberty and the American Revolution's legacy, albeit in starkly contrasting ways. The economic reliance on slavery within the South, contrasted with the North's differing economic structures, deepened the division. By the time William H. Seward spoke of an irrepressible conflict in 1858, suggesting that the United States would eventually have to become entirely slave or free, the nation was poised on the brink of war. Despite some belief that such differences would not necessarily result in war, the accumulation of tensions regarding the political, social, and economic disparities between the regions, significantly anchored by the slavery issue, ultimately made armed conflict unavoidable.