Maple syrup was made more available in the early 1800s when a tin can was developed in which maple syrup could be sealed, stored and shipped. Maple syrup was a favorite food and cooking ingredient for 19th century abolitionists because many of them hoped its popularity would bring an end to the sugar cane industry and thus end slavery on West Indian sugar plantations. Abolitionists urged their fellow citizens to eat more maple sugar than West Indian sugar in order to “reduce by that much the lashings the Negroes have to endure to grow cane sugar to satisfy our gluttony.”
