The history of slavery in New England began with enslavement of Native Americans. Brethren by Nature: New England Indians, Colonists, and the Origins of American Slavery is the best overview for the legal justification for slavery in Massachusetts, and dives into the gradual legal shift that grew between Indigenous vs African slavery. The book is fairly academic, a good source, but probably not the best place to start. If we limit the discussion to African slavery, New England Bound: Slavery and Colonization in Early America is a very readable introduction that not only stressed the presence of African slaves in New England, but also how the New England trading economy stood on a foundation on slavery in the Caribbean. New England outsourced it's slavery offshore, but was just as dependent on the fruits of unpaid labor as plantation owners further south. Black Lives, Native Lands, White Worlds: A History of Slavery in New England also looks to be a great resource, but full disclosure it is next in my "to read" pile. Finally, if you want a deep dive to explore African slavery in one place and time New York Burning: Liberty, Slavery, and Conspiracy in Eighteenth-Century Manhattan covers the response to a series of fires in Manhattan in 1741. White citizens, in a panic over a potential slave revolt, burned thirteen black men at the stake, hanged seventeen more, and imprisoned more than one hundred black men and women in a dungeon beneath City Hall. The book was eye-opening to me because it explored slavery in a northern urban center, as well as the violence used to maintain the practice in wake of a constant fear of revolt.

Hope these recommendations help! Happy reading!