Even though Massachusetts was a northern, “free” state, not all of Lowell’s residents supported antislavery or abolitionist movements. Many of the mill owners/investors and other wealthy businessmen who had ties to the textile industry were actively engaged in the anti-abolitionist movement that sought to suppress and discredit the rhetoric of antislavery activists and discourage any action that went against the Constitution to maintain slavery and preserve the union.
Why did many of Lowell’s prominent residents and businessmen engage with the anti-abolitionist movement? How did they justify the existence of slavery?