 Benjamin 's view that slavery should continue was based in his belief that citizens had a right to their property as guaranteed by the Constitution . As Butler put it , " he could no more see that it was right for Northern people to rob him of his slave than it would be for him to connive at horse stealing " . He avoided the arguments of some that the slaves were inferior beings , and that their position was ordained by God : Evans ascribes this to Benjamin not being raised as a slaveowner , but coming to it later in life . Benjamin joined in a widespread view of white Southerners that the African American would not be ready for emancipation for many years , if ever . They feared that freeing the slaves would ruin many and lead to murders and rapes by the newly liberated of their former masters and mistresses . Such a massacre had been feared by Southerners since the Haitian Revolution , the violent revolt known as " Santo Domingo " in the South , in which the slaves of what became Haiti killed many whites and mulattoes in 1804 while gaining independence from French control . When the anti @-@ slavery book Uncle Tom 's Cabin was published in 1852 , Benjamin spoke out against Harriet Beecher Stowe 's portrayal . He said that slaves were for the most part well treated , and plantation punishments , such as whipping or branding , were more merciful than sentences of imprisonment that a white man might receive in the North for similar conduct . 
