Although many Northerners might not agree that the
need for labor was a justification for slavery, many would concur with
second argument, which was that the Negro was destined for a position of
inferiority. Here the racial prejudices of North and
the South overlapped. The third argument was that Christianity
had sanctioned slavery throughout all of history as a means for
conversion. This contention had more justification than the
religious colonists would care to admit. Finally, the South
argued that white civilization had developed a unique high
culture precisely because slavery removed the burden from the
white citizens. Again, while Northerners might not totally agree
with this point, many of them did believe in the superiority of
white civilization. Although these points convinced few outsiders of the
necessity for the existence of slavery, they did underline the
widespread belief in black inferiority and white
superiority. From this point of view, the necessity for defending the
glories of white civilization against the corruption of
racial degeneration justified more and more radical action.
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