What we called "slavery" in America was a common form of labor control & usage, that at long periods of time, has affected virtually every human tribe or race on earth. (It is an interesting footnote, that George III, when he first ascended to the throne, freed the last White British slaves, in the British mines. The terms employed may vary--the actual term "slavery" of course is derived from the Slavic people, where serfdom--at least in Russia, I believe was finally abolished, during our tragic war of the 1860s; but of course feudal serfdom was not limited to the slavic part of Europe. Of course the bondsmen in the Near East in Biblical times, were basically held in the same labor system--a situation that was not denounced by either Jesus or the Patriarchs of the Old Testament, except where other factors were involved.
Had the South not been increasingly insulted by obsessed fanatics, who wanted to abolish the system, but without making any arrangements to provide for an acceptable transition for either master or servant, it is not likely that secession would have carried the day, politically. But the display of the same sort of fanaticism that is displayed today in purging American history, makes it very clear why self-respecting Southerners, regardless of their view of the labor system, felt obliged to chart a new destiny.
The great Negro educator, Booker T. Washington, who was born a slave, but rose to be the outstanding educator of his people, also offers a more benign view of his times:
Booker T. Washington Testimony.
One can certainly recognize the benefits of a free labor force, and still refrain from denouncing those in every land & every era, when other systems prevailed. My only point here is to call attention to the apparent need of some to embrace a fanatic obsession over social interaction that ended in America over 5 generations ago; where that obsession seems to lead those afflicted to embrace an all out effort to divide this generation of Americans.
Just to add to your post, what aggravated the slave issue in America was the cotton industry and all the money that came with it. Slavery was on its way out until the cotton industry started to grow in the early 1800’s. In fact, cotton was our number one export from the early 1800’s until the late 1930’s. Plenty of corporations and individuals in the North also made a good living off the cotton industry. It’s amazing that Lincoln and the Union held it together. In fact, it was a close call that doesn’t get much mention these days.