England was technologically more advanced than Africa at the time Africans were being enslaved by the English, which was taken as evidence of English racial superiority. It seemed reasonable that superior races should control and be served by inferior races. From our present perspective we can see that even though one culture may advance technologically beyond another, this has to do with many kinds of historical accidents, rather than being a measurement of the capabilities of any ethnicity.
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English slave owners justified slavery by promoting racist ideologies that asserted the superiority of white people over Black people, claiming that it was their divine duty to civilize and educate those they enslaved. They also argued that slavery was necessary for the economic prosperity of the colonies and that people of African descent were inherently inferior and better off under the control of white slave owners.
Southern slave owners generally viewed slavery as essential to their economic prosperity, social hierarchy, and way of life. They believed that slavery was a natural and necessary institution, and that it provided the foundation for the region's agricultural economy. Many slave owners also used racism to justify the subjugation of African slaves, considering them inferior beings who needed to be controlled and guided.
The argument used to justify slavery was that it was necessary for the economy and plantation owners relied on slave labor. This argument also served to question the fairness of northerners who benefitted from the goods produced by slave labor in the South, leading to debates about complicity in the institution of slavery.
Yes, some Southern slave owners defended slavery as a necessary economic institution to maintain their way of life and argued that it was justified by biblical principles and racial superiority. They believed that slavery was essential for the prosperity of their economy and that it was beneficial for both the enslaved individuals and society as a whole.
Individuals who supported the Fugitive Slave Act were those who believed in upholding the institution of slavery and enforcing laws that allowed slave owners to recapture escaped slaves. Pro-slavery advocates, Southern plantation owners, and politicians who favored preserving the economic and social system of slavery were most likely to support the Fugitive Slave Act.
Northerners feared that Southern slave owners might expand slavery into new territories and states, potentially increasing the political power of slave states and threatening the balance of power between free and slave states in the United States. They also feared that the economic interests of Southern slave owners would dominate national policies, leading to the spread of slavery in the country.