Answer the question: “Why were the South’s political leaders so worrie

Answer the question: “Why were the South’s political leaders so worried about whether slavery would be permitted in the West when geography and climate made it unlikely that slavery would ever prosper in the area?”

What will be an ideal response?

ANSWER
Southerners were eager to establish in principle their right to expand slavery into the territories in the event more hospitable environs were annexed (Central America, Cuba). They needed to counter the precedent of the Northwest Ordinance and Missouri Compromise’s ban on slavery. Historically, slave states entered the Union only from territories where slavery had been allowed before statehood.