HF Critical Lens Experts - Biographical/Historical Lens

"The Composition of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Victor A. Donyo has been written by an author who seems to have created multiple works of writing drawn from Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In this specific article, Donyo sheds light on his own conclusions and insights from the famous Twain novel, portraying his inferences in a most relatable way to the reader of the article. Donyo puts a clear focus and emphasis on the historic background of the era of the novel and examines parallels in the history of the United States and the events taking place in the novel.

One of the first historical connections Donyo makes from the novel to U.S. reality is that of the Post-Reconstruction Era. This era in history covers the complete history of the entire country from 1865 to 1877 following the Civil War, as well as focuses in on the transformation of the southern parts of the United States with the reconstruction of state and society. In his passage, Donyo states that "Pap Finn's rant about education and the government and the 'mulatter' college professor who was allowed to vote touched upon the real post-Reconstruction issues facing a compromised federal government, and upon the real problems of Blacks who wished to vote; although voting had been difficult for the free Blacks in the 1845 era, it was far more dangerous and confrontational in the 1872 and 1876 elections."

While I agree that Pap's rant provides a solid example of how things were in the Post-Reconstruction era, I have to disagree that the 1872 and 1876 elections were more influential of the issue of free Blacks voting in elections. In the 1872 election, President Ulysses S. Grant was elected to his second term in office, regardless of a division within the Republican Party. The main issue and topic of discussion for this particular election was that of corruption in the federal government, but was not centralized on the corruption within the voting policies regarding free Blacks.

In the 1876 election, one of the most disputed presidential election in American History, Rutherford B. Hayes lost in the popular vote but won in the electoral vote, giving him the presidential victory over Samuel J. Tilden. As the Compromise of 1877, the Republicans withdrew federal troops from the South, ending Reconstruction. Similar to the last election of 1872, the main issues and topics of discussion presented were again not centralized around the voting rights of free Blacks, but rather focused on the continued corruption of the federal government as well as the Financial Panic of 1873. While tensions may have risen from the 1845 era to the 1870's, I would not go as far to say that it was "far more dangerous and confrontational" during the two 1870's elections.