The Union government had achieved control by the end of 1861 and Missouri is considered a Union state, with the Confederate government functioning only as a government in exile for the duration of the war. This hybrid allows for Mark Twain to explore the societal construct of slavery through the characters by setting the novel initially in Missouri. 

As European demand for these crops increased, the plantations grew larger and needed more slaves to harvest the crops.

80% of all slaves shipped to the Americas were put to work on plantations. They worked long hours in the fields and were punished if they did not work hard enough.

Other slaves worked in the house as servants, or were used to do other jobs around the plantation.

The owners of plantations were very rich and lived in big houses with many rooms. The area around the house would often be planted with plants and flowers.

The slaves were housed in sparsely furnished wooden huts. Their huts were grouped together, often fairly close to the plantation fields.

Many plantations kept cows, sheep and chickens to provide them with fresh meat, milk and eggs.

Most plantations tended to concentrate on growing just one product – tobacco, cotton or sugar were the most common. They were grown on a large scale in one or more fields. Slaves were responsible for the ploughing, sowing and harvesting of the crop and were punished if they did not work hard enough.

The house slaves – cooks, maids, nannies, butlers and drivers, were often housed separately to the field slaves. Their living quarters were generally better than those who worked in the fields and were placed fairly close to the plantation owner’s house.

From his earliest years, Washington was known simply as "Booker", with no middle or surname, in the practice of the time. His mother, her relatives and his siblings struggled with the demands of slavery. He later wrote:

“I cannot recall a single instance during my childhood or early boyhood when our entire family sat down to the table together, and God's blessing was asked, and the family ate a meal in a civilized manner. On the plantation in Virginia, and even later, meals were gotten to the children very much as dumb animals get theirs. It was a piece of bread here and a scrap of meat there. It was a cup of milk at one time and some potatoes at another,” (Washington 34).