How did the north and the south each view the various events of the 1850's?

The South was sensitive to the growing influence of the Abolitionist movement and the increasing difficulty of bring new territories into the USA as slave-states.

Their morale was raised by a couple of false dawns.

First, a new Fugitive Slave Act had been introduced in exchange for California being admitted as free soil. The South did not realise how unpopular these official slave-catchers would be, and 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' was written as an immediate protest against the Act.

Second, an ageing Chief Justice ruled that under the Constitution a man's property was sacred, and slaves were property. This appeared to mean that no state could declare itself to be free soil, and again the South took heart. But again, it caused outrage in the North, and brought war a step closer.

There had also been the well-meant attempt to put the slavery issue to a local vote when new states were coming up for admission to the USA. Both sides hoped for an orderly result. But what they got was widespread intimidation of voters and much bloodshed, demonstrating all too clearly that the issue could not be resolved through lawful processes, but only through violence.