Built in 1742 in Boston, Massachusetts, Faneuil Hall was a meeting house well-known as a platform of oration across various causes. It was here that American colonists first opposed the Sugar Act in 1764, declaring "no taxation without representation," and where Samuel Adams rallied support for independence from Britain. In the 1800s, it became a key meeting place for various local abolitionist groups, including the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society, which hosted the annual National Anti-Slavery Bazaar at Faneuil Hall for nearly a decade.

In Elizabeth Gaskell's novel North and South, London is not just a geographical location, but also a powerful symbol of the socio-political and economic structures that govern Victorian Society. While the novel is set primarily in the industrial town of Milton, London plays an essential role in showcasing the broader scope of the changes happening across Britain during the Industrial Revolution.