THERE IS DEATH IN THE POT - The University of Texas at Arlington

movement, abstainers instead seemed to push them away with their narrow focus on
individual purity.
Members of the American Free Produce Association were also concerned with
issues of supply. While members harangued abolitionists about the morality of the cause,
members also struggled to identify and to fund a steady supply of free-labor goods. In
1843, the AFPA’s Committee on Finance outlined a four-step plan to raise funds to
continue manufacturing free-labor goods. The developing free-produce movement in
Ohio, which had led to the establishment of several free-labor stores, had increased
business enough that the AFPA was able to reduce prices. The fifth annual report, in
1843, noted that the market and the quality of goods had improved. Throughout the mid-
to late-1840s, the association focused on supplying free-labor goods. Indeed,
manufacturing seemed to be the only business of the association. In 1846, James Mott
noted that since “the business of the association is conducted chiefly by our
manufacturing committee, the details of its operations will be found in their report.”
Despite moments of optimism, supply and quality continued to plague the association. In
1847, the AFPA suspended its manufacturing committee and the association apparently
disbanded. 31
Few Orthodox Quakers participated in the American Free Produce Association.
In the mid-1840s, Orthodox Quaker Samuel Rhoads attempted to reinvigorate Friends’
commitment to free produce. His pamphlet, Considerations on the Use of the
Productions of Slavery, Addressed to the Religious Society of Friends, published in 1844
31 October 17, 1843; October 26, 1846; and October 4, 1847Minutes, AFPA, HSP.
204