which they knew meant the end of slavery given they had to expand or die. The cotton fields of the south were beginning to show their wear and tear. The northern tobacco fields were almost dead. The south had to be able to expand slave states for economic reasons but also for political ones. They were losing their power and were outnumbered in the House and Senate. There was a huge fear that bills would pass to outlaw slavery. As most of their wealth was tied into their slaves, their position is understandable. If you freed everyone, their wealth is flushed down the toilet. They had also seen how the sugar islands like Haiti, Jamaica, Barbados etc had seen their economies tank once slavery was abolished in the UK or after the Haitian revolution (hell under slavery, Saint Domingue had produced more wealth than the entire rest of the Caribbean combined). Cuba then became the big sugar as it still had slavery. Brazil still had slavery and it produced cotton.
The big sugar and big cotton planters were fearful.
