Support for slavery per se never really "hardened" among Southerners. Most people didn't own any slaves and regarded the whole institution as rather dubious.
However the word "slavery" came to be used as a kind of shorthand to denote protection of life, liberty and property. The radical Abolitionists of the North liked to say they would kill all the Southerners, and this alarmed the people of the South and led to secession.
slavery
You have to understand the war had VERY LITTLE to do with slavery.
mountain people
The Southern whites were FOR slavery and the Northern whites were AGAINST slavery. So using the word patriots isn't correct because Americans are all considered patriots.
it seperated the races treating non whites as less than whites
Southern pro-slavery whites argued that slavery was a necessary economic institution that was vital to the Southern way of life. They believed that slavery was justified by the Bible and that it was beneficial for both slaves and slave owners. Additionally, they argued that African Americans were inferior and better off under the care of white slave owners.
Southern farmers Populists Southern whites
Many poor southern whites supported slavery due to economic reasons, as it provided them with opportunities for employment in agriculture and industry. Additionally, they believed in the racial hierarchy that justified their societal status above enslaved African Americans. Socially, they also feared competition for jobs and were influenced by the propaganda that portrayed slavery as necessary for maintaining their way of life.
Slavery began in Virginia and Maryland on tobacco farms. Slavery became more and more important as farms became bigger. That divided the Southern whites into two classes.
Pro-slavery Southern whites used religious texts like the Bible to argue that God condoned slavery, as well as pseudoscientific works like "Types of Mankind" to promote the idea of racial superiority. They also referenced historical and legal justifications for slavery, such as the concept of states' rights and property rights.
While it is never a good idea to generalize, studies have shown that large majorities of southern whites accepted slavery. Some even felt it was the right thing, because they believed that black people (then called "negroes") were inferior and meant to be slaves. But other southern whites were somewhat more ambivalent about it; we know this because even though they kept slaves, they later arranged to set them free. It is also true that the way slaves were treated varied: some owners were harsh and brutal, while others were somewhat more humane. Still, there was little public discussion about whether keeping slaves was ethical, and most southern whites seemed to support slavery as a necessity for running a plantation. Based on newspaper and magazine articles of that time, we can conclude that a large majority of southern whites were in favor of slavery, or if they had their doubts, they were not vocal about them. But it should be noted that there were a few southerners who were opposed to slavery and who did their part to try to end it. Unfortunately, their views were not the dominant ones, so slavery persisted.
Yes, slavery had a profound impact on Southern whites, shaping their beliefs about race, power, and privilege. The system of slavery normalized exploitation and dehumanization, leading to deeply ingrained attitudes of superiority and entitlement among many white Southerners. This legacy continues to influence social dynamics and racial disparities in the region today.