Compare And Contrast The Economic Legal And Religious Arguments For The Institution Of Slavery

In the nineteenth century, white Americans relied on free labor from black slaves heavily. The supporters of slavery used economic, legal, and religious arguments to defend slavery. Many people began to question whether slavery truly was moral or not. Abolitionists had their opinions on slavery, but southerners used economic, legal, and religious arguments to justify themselves as the correct ones. These apologists were including information about economic prosperity, the property rights, and Christianity religion. Everyone had their own opinions on the institution of slavery.

The most important argument I think that the supporters had was the economic prosperity the slaves brought. Their arguments were very convincing as they said that slaves brought free labor to America. This opened up jobs for the white Americans searching for jobs. Without slavery, Americans searching for jobs might not find any because African Americans would be searching and competing for jobs too. They also argued that having slaves brought economic prosperity because there were always plenty of resources with slaves working so hard to harvest crops and make essential

The supporters argued that since slaves were not seen as citizens anyway, then why try to change it and incorporate them into the social ladder. The supreme courts decisions were greatly influenced by the Dred Scott v. Sanford case. In this case, the Supreme Court ruled that all blacks, not just slaves, would be viewed as property to be owned and not human beings. Chief Justice Rodger Taney ruled that African Americans did not have any protection of their rights on how they were viewed. The apologists then argued that the constitution says we as citizens have the right to own property, which blacks were devalued as property, so why could citizens not own them. The supporters of slavery made very strong arguments about property rights and their rights as