Deerfield, Massachusetts, residents founded the Deerfield Anti-Slavery Society in 1838, the same year an unknown artist created this painting of African American musicians.  Although the painting has a history of ownership in a local family with ties to the anti-slavery movement, it depicts several anti-equality stereotypes common at the time. The figures are dressed in outdated clothing styles, visually reinforcing a common belief among Whites that Black people lacked sophistication. The artist based the two figures in red on an earlier print which mocked Governor John Hancock for hosting an “Equality Ball” in Boston for free African Americans in 1793. The central figure is Long Tail Blue, the main character in a racist 1827 minstrel song of the same name. Despite increasing anti-slavery sentiment, most New Englanders did not support the immediate abolition of slavery throughout the United States in this period.