Final answer:
Intellectual southerners responded to abolitionist attacks on slavery by critiquing wage labor, directly criticizing abolitionists, and seeing a conspiracy or abolitionist threat.
Step-by-step explanation:
Intellectual southerners responded to abolitionist attacks on slavery in various ways.
1. Some defended slavery by critiquing wage labor in the North. They argued that the Industrial Revolution had brought about a new form of slavery called wage slavery, which they considered worse than the slave labor used in the South.
2. Others saw abolitionists as a threat to their way of life and criticized them directly. They pointed to figures like William Lloyd Garrison as instigators of slave rebellions.
3. Some southerners believed in a vast slave power conspiracy dominating national politics, while others saw abolitionists working to eliminate slavery throughout the country. Both sides felt compelled to defend their positions and criticize the other side.
In summary, intellectual southerners responded to abolitionist attacks on slavery by critiquing wage labor, directly criticizing abolitionists, and seeing a conspiracy or abolitionist threat.