Question

Why was there less interest in abolition in the South?

there were no enslaved people in the south
the south relied on the labor of enslaved people
the entire enslaved population had already freed themselves
nobody in the South knew what abolition meant

Answer 1

the south relied on the labor of enslaved people

Southern economy and social structure were built on plantation agriculture (cotton, tobacco, rice) that depended on enslaved labor, so many white Southerners opposed abolition as a threat to their economic interests and social order.