Since when has owning slaves been honorable?
Since the Egyptians owned Hebrew slaves.
I guess when you didn't have heavy equipment, building massive constructions was impossible without them.
Several thousand years ago slavery was supposed to be a way to pay off your debt. Slaves were by law supposed to be treated fairly. That changed. Eventually it became ownership.
Wrong owning another person has never been honorable I'm kinda mad that you of all people would seek to excuse it as "everybody did it".
Its akin to going to a Jazz club seeing everyone smoke weed and use that as an excuse to why you slamming dope in your arm is an honorable thing
Slavery is a natural human condition. The only society where it was not practiced is ours. Historically that is simply true. Slaveowners in the South typically thought of it as a bad institution but the alternatives were not much better.
Quit projecting your own views on to other people from the past.