Final answer:
Southerners considered John Brown a terrorist who posed a grave threat to their society and the institution of slavery, leading to increased secessionist sentiment and harsher laws against rebellion.
Step-by-step explanation:
Southerners viewed John Brown as a terrorist and violent anti-slavery extremist who threatened their way of life and social order. His raid on Harpers Ferry increased the fears in the South of further violent abolitionist plots, heightened the calls for secession, and led to various laws aimed at preventing slave rebellions. Despite the raid's failure, it generated a sense of unity among southern slaveholders and non-slaveholders alike to defend their institutions and galvanized support for the federal government protecting slavery. Southerners wanted an investigation into the incident, as they saw it as evidence of the lengths abolitionists in the North would go to undermine the Southern economy and social structure. For a short period, supporting anything other than the maintenance of slavery in the South could lead to violent repercussions.