When the north didn't comply with taking free runaway slaves back to their owner how did that pull the Nation Apart?

Answer 1

The refusal of the northern states to comply with the Fugitive Slave Act, which required them to return runaway slaves to their owners in the South, created tension between the North and the South. The South viewed this as a violation of their property rights and a threat to their economic system based on slavery. This refusal further deepened the divide between the slaveholding South and the free North, ultimately contributing to the growing animosity and conflict between the two regions that would eventually lead to the Civil War. The issue of states' rights versus federal authority also became a centerpiece of the conflict, as the South argued that the federal government was not upholding its obligations under the Constitution to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act.