The abolitionist movement was a part of the Civil War because in the Dred Scott case, it was the North fighting, saying that slavery needed to stop, V.S. the South, fighting to bring him back to the plantations as a slave. The South won as the Fugitive Slave Law was passed.  This was a cause because the Union wanted to end slavery.

Dred Scott

    Dred Scott was the runaway slave that tried to sue for his freedom.  The case went all the way to the Supreme Court, but then the South won, sending Scott back to picking cotton on a plantation.

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Fugitive Slave Law

    The Fugitive Slave Law, passed in 1850, said that slaves were property and should be returned to their owners.  Anyone concealing knowledge of hidden slaves trying to reach freedom in the North should tell of their location, so that they can be returned to their owners.

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