To what extent do you believe the early American republic attempted to “protect” slavery when slave owners of the south compared their economic system to the free labor system of the north?

yes

Explanathgf

i confess that there are several parts of this constitution which i do not at present approve, but i am not sure i shall never approve them: for having lived long, i have experienced many instances of being obliged by better information or fuller consideration, to change opinions even on important subjects, which i once thought right, but found to be otherwise. it is therefore that the older i grow, the more apt i am to doubt my own judgment, and to pay more respect to the judgment of others.

in griswold v. connecticut (1965), the supreme court ruled that a state's ban on the use of contraceptives violated the right to marital privacy.