WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Defenders of slavery argued that the sudden end to the slave economy would have had a profound and killing economic impact in the South where reliance on slave labor was the foundation of their economy. The cotton economy would collapse. The tobacco crop would dry in the fields. Rice would cease being profitable.

Detailed explanation-2: -About 85 percent lived in the Southern Colonies. Enslaved Africans made up about 40 percent of the South’s population. The growth of slavery allowed plantation farming to expand in South Carolina and Georgia. Without slave labor, there probably would have been no rice plantations in the region’s swampy lowlands.

Detailed explanation-3: -Slaves in the Confederate service. The Confederacy’s early military successes depended significantly on slavery. Slaves provided agricultural and industrial labor, constructed fortifications, repaired railroads, and freed up white men to serve as soldiers.

Detailed explanation-4: -Which argument would an opponent of slavery most likely make? Slavery violates the American ideal that “all men are created equal."

Detailed explanation-5: -In fact a large portion of the anti-slavery sentiment had its basis in racism and an inherent dislike of the African race. Many northerners, especially immigrants, saw slavery as the reason the country was flooded with blacks. They disliked the fact that blacks were filling their streets and taking their jobs.