"I'm not so interested in Jewish involvement in the slave trade and the plantation system. I'm more interested in Northern business participation in these institutions, generally."

Jim, Get hold of a copy of "Complicity: How the North Promoted, Prolonged, and Profited from Slavery," by Anne Farrow, Joel Lang, and Jenifer Frank (Ballantine Books, 2006). It goes into great detail into exactly what you are asking about, and without all the Jew-baiting baggage that Lewis Farrakhan brings along.