The tide of sentiment southerns carried towards their “Southern way of life” changed around 1831. Instead of offering apologies in response to the system of slavery, which in the past they described as a “necessary evil” forced upon them, the South instead started a vehement defense of their practices. The protective feeling over the southern lifestyle was an outcome of a decade of calls for the immediate abolition of slaves, the horrid accounts of slave mistreatment, and uprisings from the slave population. From many angles the south was receiving the message that they were immoral and times were changing. This insulted their self belief of benevolence and “Paternalism,” while simultaneously insinuating their Agrarian lifestyle was less worthy
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He changed the tone in the talk of abolition, he was forceful, uncompromising, and committed to morally disgracing those who supported slaves but more importantly those who did not do enough to end slavery. He led the way in the new wave of “immediateness,” which changed the way abolitionists approached terminating slavery. Garrison relentlessly degraded the practice of slavery, putting moral pressure on everyone to denounce and take action against slavery now. Although the pressure was aimed sharply at northerners, the actions did not go unnoticed in the south. Garrison was attacking the south 's character and religious credibility. He turned many northerners into crusaders like himself. If it was just Garrison who was striving for an immediate end to slavery, southerners could have written him off as zealous lunatic, which many attempted to do, but he had supporters, and the threat of abolition became more real. This spurned the south to turn more defensive and protective of itself. As they lost support for their way of life, southerners dug their heels in and insisted their system would stay. An attack on slavery was an attack on their culture. This attitude served as a stubborn cornerstone for later
He changed the tone in the talk of abolition, he was forceful, uncompromising, and committed to morally disgracing those who supported slaves but more importantly those who did not do enough to end slavery. He led the way in the new wave of “immediateness,” which changed the way abolitionists approached terminating slavery. Garrison relentlessly degraded the practice of slavery, putting moral pressure on everyone to denounce and take action against slavery now. Although the pressure was aimed sharply at northerners, the actions did not go unnoticed in the south. Garrison was attacking the south 's character and religious credibility. He turned many northerners into crusaders like himself. If it was just Garrison who was striving for an immediate end to slavery, southerners could have written him off as zealous lunatic, which many attempted to do, but he had supporters, and the threat of abolition became more real. This spurned the south to turn more defensive and protective of itself. As they lost support for their way of life, southerners dug their heels in and insisted their system would stay. An attack on slavery was an attack on their culture. This attitude served as a stubborn cornerstone for later