Also being property and having a soul are two different matters. Even St. Paul, one of the most devout christians in the Bible, owned a runaway slave and returned him to his rightful owner.
The southern masters were quite aware of the souls of their slaves. Almost every long standing black church in the south traces it originals to the plantations. That is an odd part of the master-slave relationship in the south. What slave in history has ever accepted the religion of a cruel master?
So, in my opinion, it was the "PRECEPTION" that there was a problem, that was the "real" problem. We still have That problem still today that our preception of that master-slave relationship may not be entirely accurate. YES, Slavery was a bad deal, but in the United States it was practise in it most humain form in the history of mankind. So the Southern slave owner was very aware that his slaves had a soul, that he the master in most cases were responcible for that soul, and that persons care and well being.
Every body well jump up and condeam slavery and cite the extreme cases of brutality. But we have those same brutalities committed by some people on their own children today its called child abuse.
So there is no accounting for the depravity of men. But the fact is that 98% of all slaves in the south were treated with compassion.