In the nineteenth century, supporters of slavery in used legal, religious, and economic arguments to defend the institution of slavery. Southern plantation owners depended heavily on slavery. Cotton, their main export, required tedious slave labor. Thus, southern supporters of slavery employed whatever tactics they could in order to keep their slaves from emancipation, which worked and extended slavery for a few more decades.
             One of the ways Southerners defended slavery was through legal means. In 1831-1832, Virginia legislature debated and eventually defeated various emancipation proposals. This legislation was a turning point in the pro-slavery fight, because soon after all the salave states enforced harsher slave codes and also ban emancipation. Also, when Northern abolitionists were increasingly vocal against slavery, in 1836, southerners charted the gag appeal, which required all antislavery appeals to be ignored without debate. Southerns went so far as to even break the laws in the Bill of Rights. In 1835, the government ordered southern postmasters to destroy abolitionist material and told officials to arrest postmasters who did not destroy abolitionist writing. Thus, they were breaking the 1st amendment in the Bill of Rights which guarenteed Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press.
             Southererns used religious means of supporters their argument as well. They claimed that slavery was supported by the Bible and also by the widom of Aristotle. The slaves were becoming Chistian, which was far better than barbarians of the jungle. Slavemasters therefore encouraged religion in slaves, not only because it would keep them tame, but it would also suppress Northern abolitionist arguments.
             As to an economic standpoint, Southerners argued that freeing slaves would cause America's economy to collapse. Free blacks, they said, would cause fierce competition in factory jobs, taking away many of immigrant jobs held by the Irish and G...