But the chief argument advanced was that slavery was the price of prosperity and progress of the South. The North had a moderate climate because of the sea breeze and elevation, and thus white men were able to till the soil, while the intense heat of the South rendered it impossible for the white man to work in the fields and made a large supply of black men necessary. As Harper said, "The products of slave labor furnished more than two-thirds of the materials of our commerce, employed in transporting and exchanging; and among the slaveholding States is to be found the greater market for all the productions of their industry, of whatever kind. The prosperity of those States, therefore, and the civilization of their cities have been for the most part created by the existence of slavery." In addition, slavery released the planter from manual labor and gave him more time to cultivate his mind, and thus the Southern planter was highly educated, cultured, and refined. In the mind of the planter, slavery was "the defence of human civilization." Students of economics, however, saw that it was an evil which had to pass away. FRANCES L. HUNTER FOOTNOTES: [1] Muzzey, _History of the United States_, p. 304. [2] Ingle, _Southern Sidelights_, p. 18. [3] _Ibid._, p. 18. [4] Dodd, _Cotton Kingdom_, p. 71. [5] _Ibid._, p. 72. [6] Rhodes, _History of the United States_, Vol. I, p. 361. [7] Ingle, _Southern Sidelights_, p. 45. [8] _Ibid._, p. 40. [9] DeBow, _Industrial History of the United States_, Vol. II, p. 303. [10] Adams, _Three Months in the South_, p. 82. [11] Rhodes, _History of the United States_, Vol. I, 317. [12] Hart, _Slavery and Abolition_, p. 100. [13] Dodd, _Cotton Kingdom_, p. 75. [14] Hart, _Slavery and Abolition_, p. 100. THE EVOLUTION OF THE NEGRO BAPTIST CHURCH The freedom and local democracy of the Baptist Church enabled the Negroes to participate in the affairs thereof much earlier than they were so indulged in the other denominations. Pioneer Negro preachers and churches, therefore, first appeared in the Baptist Church. The development of the attitude of the Baptist Church toward the Negro, however, has been by cycles. The relations of the two races in church matters differ widely from what they were years ago. Members of both races formerly belonged to the same congregation, which in the beginning in this country ignored social distinctions. They have since then undergone radical changes to reach the present situation in which they have all but severed connection with each other.