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As America grew and flourished, the conflict over slavery -- and its legitimacy in the nation and the Constitution -- escalated. Author Andrew Delbanco argues that the disputes over whether to harbor or return fugitive slaves pushed the nation into war, the topic of his book \"The War Before the War: Fugitive Slaves and the Struggle for America's Soul from the Revolution to the Civil War.\" Delbanco, winner of the 2019 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award in Nonfiction, explores how the battle over fugitive slaves affects America\'s present story and its persistent struggles with race and inequality.