Did the generation that governed the United States in the ten to fifteen years before the Civil War make mistakes that caused the war to happen, or did they hold off an inevitable war for as long as was reasonably possible? In your answer, provide plenty of evidence: be sure to go over all the compromises on slavery from 1846-1859, including compromises that did not pass, and analyze if they helped stave off the war for a time or if they exacerbated intersectional tensions. Also include other events, people, documents, political parties, belief systems or ideals, etc., that contributed to the sectional friction, and explain their role in the coming of the Civil War or in the delaying of that war until 1861.