How were the three regions of the country divided economically, politically, and views on the expansion of slavery.

The two sides of the debate over slavery were divided between the two main sections of the United States; the North and South. Many Northerners viewed slavery as evil and wrong and some were involved in the abolitionist movement. The North did not obey fugitive slave laws because they said they were cruel and inhumane. No states in the North allowed slavery and the North and the abolitionists who lived there harbored fugitive slaves and helped them escape to Canada along the Underground Railroad. In the South, on the other hand, the people said that slavery was necessary to their way of life even though the majority of southerners did not even own slaves. Those who did own slaves, said slavery was good for the slaves because they were cared for in every way and given a job and that slavery was good for the slave owners because it allowed southern whites to achieve a high level of culture.