FC

White Southerners who defended slavery were called

segregationists

hi your question lacks the options here are the options

apologists. abolitionists. slaveholders. spectators.

answer : Apologists

Explanation:

The white southerners who defended slavery were called apologists, they were called apologists because they opposed the ideas of the abolitionists who were against slavery and wanted slavery to end especially in the south. some of the reasons that the apologists gave was that if slavery is stopped that the economy of the south will suffer a great setback because the slaves were the backbone of the economy at the time and also that the freed slaves will add up to the population of job-seekers and this swelling number might lead to chaos in the society when they are unemployed