Question

What was the primary reason that business leaders and politicians in the South objected so strongly to a high protective tariff?

Answer 1

They favored free trade in order to be able to export their crops abroad.

Explanation:

In antebellum an opposition between the North and the South was fueled by the issue of tariffs. The North had an industrial economy and its elite longed to have tariffs to protect themselves from European competition.

The South had to pay for these tariffs as their economy was agricultural and based on slavery. They opposed protectionism strongly.