To what extent did the Dred Scott Case lead to the further fracture between the Northern and Southern states between the 1840s and the beginning of the Civil War (1861) ? Short essay question

The Dred Scott Case furthered the gap between abolitionists and slaveholders. By asserting that a slave was property and had no free will or agency, the northern states dug deeper into the abolitionist movement. This also spurned many to stop further acquisition of slaveholding lands in order to maintain free states and places where slaves couldn't be found. By having a mission to stop the spread of slavery, this put a strangehold on land starved plantation holders who saw the western acquisitions of the Mexican Cessation as potential cotton or tobacco lands. Stopping their spread made the southern states feel oppressed and furthered their own wishes to keep their own standard of living.