Southern planters believed that if slaves learned to read, it would weaken the system of slavery.
There had been slavery in both North and South. In the North, it died out because it did not suit the factory system. In the South, it would have died out too, but the sudden growth of the cotton trade (following the invention of the cotton-gin) gave the planters a big incentive to import and breed more slaves to work the plantations.
Plantations developed in the Southern colonies of the US because of cheap labor. Following the invention of the cotton gin in 1793, millions of acres had been turned to cotton production. Cotton was the chief money making product and using slavery, cotton could be produced for nearly no labor costs, ensuring massive economic gains for plantation owners.
The Southern Arguments:Legal:- they said that the US Constitution allowed slavery so the slavery is fine( fifth Amendment )Religious:- Bible ( slavery is okay according to the Bible )Economic:- slaves were said to be essential to supply cheap labor for a plantation based on Agriculture System.
They worked for the whites, which helped the economy grow. It set up a system of racism and slavery that lasted until the American Civil War (1860's)
Beyond the moral implications, slavery was a threat to northern jobs. While the work of abolitionists was for human rights, many northerners believed slavery took away jobs from white workers and threatened the political system by giving slave states more power than they deserved based on the number of enslaved people they had.
Urbanization and industrialization.
I believe it was slavery.
Slavery
Northerners viewed abolitionism as a dangerous threat to the existing social system. Many in the North also had no desire to see the South's economy crumble. If this were to happen they would lose huge sums of money that Southern planters owed to Northern banks.
Mary Boykin Chesnut was married to James Chesnut. They were South Carolina planters and owned many slaves. Mary deplored the practice of slavery and knew it must end. At the same time, she lived in an economic system that depended upon it.
Contract System
Because of plantation system, the planters needed large numbers of agricultural laborers. Rather than pay wages, the planters thought it was more economical to own large numbers of slaves. Some were trained in needed skills: dress making, cooking, carpentry, blacksmithing, and some were taught to be hosehold servants as well as field hands. The planters owned the slaves. The slaves were considered chattels. They could be bought and sold as though they were livestock. Families could be broken up with different members being traded to separate families. Slavery was the product of agriculture on a vast scale run amok.
Merchant Planters
The cotton gin made cotton production more profitable, as long as the slave labor remained. More planters pursued larger profits under the plantation system. It made the cotton trade so profitable that Southern leaders were strongly motivated to preserve slavery and extend it, if possible. Growing cotton became more profitable, growers expanded crop acreage, and more slaves were needed to grow the cotton.
There had been slavery in both North and South. In the North, it died out because it did not suit the factory system. In the South, it would have died out too, but the sudden growth of the cotton trade (following the invention of the cotton-gin) gave the planters a big incentive to import and breed more slaves to work the plantations.
In the Illinois State Legislature Lincoln spoke against slavery but believed that Southern states had the right to maintain their current system. When Elijah Lovejoy, an anti-slavery newspaperman was killed, Lincoln refused to condemn lynch-law and instead criticized the extreme policies of the American Anti-Slavery Society.
It was a response to the black codes and the neo-slavery system created by unrepentant southern legislatures.