During the decades before the Civil War, many white people in the North condemned slavery in the South. Many Southerners also
objected to slavery on moral grounds yet continued to own slaves. What most likely explains this?
A. The Southern economy was dependent on slave labor.
B. The Southern economy could not employ freed slaves.
C.
Southerners needed slaves to serve as soldiers in their armed forces.
D.
Southerners believed they had a religious duty to educate young slaves.