(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All
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image. Abolitionists were a controversial minority in the North.
Most Northerners were hesitant to disrupt the country's economic
status quo by challenging the institution of slavery. This
invoice documenting the sale of cotton and cotton products in
rural Massachusetts underscores the pervasive demand for cotton
throughout the United States. While not abolitionists, per say,
many Northerners did want to see the end to slavery, yet their
insatiable demand for slave-produced goods kept the system
profitable in the South and ensured its continuity until the
Civil War.