By the Late 1830s, the South's Proslavery Argument

By the late 1830s, the South's proslavery argument:

A) rested on the premise that slavery was a necessary evil.
B) was based entirely on secular evidence.
C) had not yet been accepted by major southern political figures.
D) claimed that slavery was essential to human economic and cultural progress.
E) was roundly criticized by southern newspaper editors, ministers, and academics.