I see so much polarization between political parties of today. Republicans and democrats just don't like each other. Less and less compromise takes place in congress and all we end up with is partisanship. States have various movements to split in half (for example, California splitting north and south, Washington splitting east and west) as whether or not you are republican or democratic seems to be more related to where you live, not who you are. Are there any parallels you can draw from what led up to the civil war? Are we heading that way again? And if so, what should I look out for?
I am not sure this question is quite a fit for this sub. The first part certainly is, but generally /r/askhistorians isn't where an analysis of modern politics, even in relation to historical politics, is made. /r/AskSocialScience might be a better place to try!
That said, at least in regards to the political atmosphere prior to the Civil War... Generally the most cited bellwether for the coming war in Congressional events was the Caning of Charles Sumner in 1856, wherein a Democrat Congressman by the name of Preston Brooks attacked and beat Republican Senator Charles Sumner, one of the so called 'radical' Republican abolotionists, to within an inch of his life. On the Senate floor.
As an aside, whenever people bring up the vitriol in modern politics, or try to claim that we are on the verge of a new Civil War, I always chime in that "I'm not worried until the Democrats and Republicans start physically beating each other inside Congress."