9. Although the enactment of these stringent laws at this time was a political mistake, and was fraught with most serious consequences for the South, it is proper to notice what was said in their justification. Many of them did not differ materially from similar statutes in the Northern States. Even some of the harshest laws, those which were received with wide-spread indignation throughout the North, could almost be duplicated by laws at that time in force in such States as Rhode Island and Connecticut. Even the phraseology, the using of the words master, mistress and servant, which was deemed objectionable and suggestive by Northern Republicans, could be found in Northern statutes. The South felt confident that the negro was unable actively to assume the duties of citizenship. The Southern people feared, and with reason, that the immense mass of undeveloped humanity was liable to become turbulent and unmanageable, unless stringent laws could be framed which would hold it in check.[61] They were sincere in their statements that they believed that the interests of property, peace and good order demanded these laws. Unfortunately, the humanitarian ideas of the North harmonized too well with the political ideas of Congress. The enactment of the laws against the negro seemed to strike at the one and make possible the success of the other. The radical majority were quick to see their advantage, and did not hesitate to make the most of the opportunity. They assumed that the South deliberately intended to defy Northern sentiment, and ignored the possibility that the legislation in question was sincerely believed to be a necessary act of self-defense.