In this pivotal episode, we journey into the chaos and contradictions of Antebellum America — a nation teetering on the edge. From fragile compromises to rising tensions, and from shocking Supreme Court decisions to violent conflicts over slavery, every thread seemed to pull the country closer to rupture. How did political gridlock, moral battles, and legal disasters set the stage for the Civil War? Let’s unpack this chain reaction.

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List of Sources:

Antebellum South | Wikipedia

Compromise of 1850 (1850) | National Archives

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) | National Archives

Kansas–Nebraska Act | Wikipedia

Popular Sovereignty | Civil War on the Western Border – Kansas City Public Library

The Antebellum Period: What Happened in America Before the Civil War | HistoryNet

The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

Timeline: 1800–1860 – America | National Humanities Center

The Election of 1860 | American Battlefield Trust

Trigger Events of the Civil War | American Battlefield Trust