Most of the people were poor. They wouldn’t have been able to afford slaves. The rich landowners were the ones mostly who owned slaves. I don’t feel like looking back over this long long thread but I seem to recall that you, yourself, said that most of the southern people were opposed to slavery and that the politicians and landowners were forcing their views on everyone.
Slave ownership was very much a middle class institution in the South. Men like Thomas Jackson, a university instructor, owne as many as 10 at one time. Statistically speaking in states like South Carolina or Mississippi close to half of all families owned slaves. And many of those who did not own slaves made their living off of those that did.
I don’t feel like looking back over this long long thread but I seem to recall that you, yourself, said that most of the southern people were opposed to slavery and that the politicians and landowners were forcing their views on everyone.
I can assure you that you're wrong on that. I've never taken that position. On the contrary I'm not aware of any real opposition to slavery in the South, and freely admit that there was very little opposition to it in the North.