Why did southerners defend slavery?

Answer 1

For multiple reasons 1) Poor white farmers feared economic competition of four million freed slaves. 2) White plantation owners feared abolition would destroy the South's economy 3) Slaveholders believed that slaves were inferior and required White guardianship 4)Slavery was also condoned in The Bible

Answer 2

Why the South believed in SlaveryIt evolved from a lack of labor. In the early days of the American Colonies there was insufficient manpower to supply the needed amount of labor for the available work. The first answer was Indentured Servitude. Under this system people in the colonies who needed workers paid for the passage of persons from other places (including Black Africans) to the Colonies, in return for which they secured their labor for up to seven years under a contract. Indentured Servants, as free people, had the right to work on their own as well, and to retain the value of their additional labors for themselves. Often, by hard work and frugality many Indentured Servants managed to gather enough money to repay their passage early. This meant a new Indentured Servant had to be purchased at great cost and transported across the sea to replace those who had either served out or bought out of their contract. (The system did not always function justly, incidentally, and many indentured servants were reduced to a state of almost perpetual virtual slavery due to dishonesty on the part of the owner and failings in the legal system) Slavery evolved from that problem. Originally the Black Africans - primarily from West Africa - were brought to the Colonies exclusively as indentured servants. Interestingly, it was a Black African named Anthony Johnson who brought slavery into existance. He had himself been an indentured servant brought from Angola named "Antonio" who had served out his contract and become a planter himself, after which he took on the name Anthony Johnson. He later claimed another Black African indentured servant named John Casor was his servant for life and won his case in court in 1654. Thus, slavery was born in the American Colonies.

Slavery proved more efficient than indentured servitude since once purchased the labor of the slave belongs to the owner perpetually, so the owner needs only pay once per slave, per position being filled instead of at the longest every seven years. This is much more cost effective.

It was the misfortune of the South that their entire social and economic system then developed around the system of Black African Slavery and it became an established fact of life due to the plantation system. In the North small yeoman farms had become the norm and the economy developed around a mercantile system where slavery was less efficient than free labor, so as the population increased free laborers supplanted slaves until slaves became little more than personal servants.

As a result, in the South where the plantation system had been established slavery was central to farming as free labor was too expensive for their competitive operation. Even a plantation owner like Thomas Jefferson who personally opposed slavery could not free his slaves, because in then having to pay for free labor the price of his crops would exceed that of all other plantations and consequently would not sell, thus eliminating the income of his plantation and closing it down.

But, beyond the economics it became a part of the Southern social system and culture. People grew up steeped in it: it was life as they knew it. In ancient Rome no one could conceive of life or an economy without slavery: that was just how it was, that was how things got done. How could you do anything without slaves? It was the same in Old South.

The North was luckier in how its farming and economy developed and it was much easier for them to begin the process of emancipation after Independence than it was for the South as a result. The Northern States often used a gradual system of emancipation, some so gradual that in 1860 there were still some legally owned slaves left in the North. The largest number was in New Jersey: 8 or 9. However, some - like Pennsylvania, which had been founded by Quakers who were completely opposed to slavery on religious grounds, but had been unable to do anything about it under English rule - ended the practice at once.

In the South, large plantation owners believed that slavery was vital to the economy Cheap slave labor had been part of the original 13 colonies from almost the beginning of large sale cotton and tobacco plantations long before the American Revolution.

Plantation owners were supported by the politicians they elected. The other reason that many people in the entire nation believed in slavery was because they believed that freed slaves would be a menace to society in both the north and the south.

Answer 3

It was an economical motive to support slavery. Slave-owners knew that to lose money meant that they would have to pay to unreliable white employees. This was during the gold rush of the 1850s, and plenty of people who didn't have a great start in the south believed they could head west, get their own land, and even strike it rich. Slaves were a sure thing, and could be bought, sold, traded, whatever, but were for life.

Answer 4

Southerners had many reasons to want slavery.

* Large slaveowners were often in tremendous debt (from buying slaves) and would likely be bankrupt if slaves (property) were taken away.

* Slavery had become part of the southern way of life.

* The existence of slavery allowed free people to feel superior; even very poor and disenfranchised whites could feel they were better than the slaves.

* Slavery was needed to provide the tremendous amounts of labor for labor-intense crops like cotton and tobacco.

One thing that was generally ignored was that the slavery system did not work. Slave owners rarely got rich off their slaves. Slaves cost a huge amount of money to buy and had to be supervised, guarded, housed, and fed all year round, even if there was no work for part of the year. The only way to make money off of slavery was to breed slaves and sell them to others.

The slavery institution was destined to collapse with the introduction of motorized farm equipment. The Civil War brought an abrupt end to something like most likely would have disappeared in another generation.

Answer 5

the south supporteed slavery because the people was used to have them working and that's how they would the food from the farms and also their economy was going to go low if they didnt have anyone to do the work they wouldn't want to do...

Answer 6

The southerners main source of money was cotton. The south would pick cotton and ship it to the north where it would be fashioned into textiles using northern industry. Now by having a lot of slaves, the south could pick more cotton, thus making more money. Even the poor whites in the southern community were driven by the hope of one day owning a slave. The southerners would also make excuses as to why it was just to have slaves like the idea that the south treated slaves better than the north treated immigrants. Some even would go as far to say that slaves were "part of the family."

Answer 7

because they were white and cruel dumbo jumbo