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The Escalating Tensions Over Slavery
American from 1848 to 1861 has been compared to a runaway train. New territories acquired following the Mexican War intensified the national debate over slavery. The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 attempted to turn northerners into slave catchers. The Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Dred Scott case repealed bans on slavery in the territories and ruled such bans unconstitutional. All of this increased sectional tensions. |