The American Civil War: The Widening Vortex (Part 2)

James Tallmadge's 1819 amendment on Missouri statehood splits the nation. For forty years, Americans try every compromise to avoid choosing between slavery and freedom. The Mexican-American War forces the territorial question. The Fugitive Slave Act makes Northerners complicit. Kansas bleeds. The Dred Scott decision declares Black people can never be citizens. John Brown raids Harpers Ferry. Each compromise makes the next crisis worse, until no line on any map can contain the contradictions.&...