Political+Context+of+the+Time+Period+of+Huck+Finn

In the years 1835-1845 much of America became separated due to the views on slavery. Alongside the political setting of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, the United States had divided thoughts on slavery. The major political event in this ten year time period is that of the Abolitionist Movement.

Between 1835-1845, six presidents occupied the White House: John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, and James K. Polk. With having six presidents in ten years, a stable government was unattainable. Many citizens of the northern United States did not agree with the government’s reign over slavery because they did not believe in the act of slavery. The Constitution’s Article 1 Section 2 states, "to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons” (Foster). The people of the North became angry at this Article because by stating this, the Constitution favored Slavery and inequality.

Because of this section of the Constitution, northern United States citizens were angry at the unequal rights of African Americans which led to the Abolition Movement. The birth of this Abolition Movement began in the early 1830’s following the religious Second Great Awakening. Abolitionists attempted to reach a broad range of people and created the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1933. This society reached thousands of people through lectures, petitions, and newspaper articles. Not only were African American’s able to overcome adversity by speaking out, but women broke barriers to address racial equality. The American Anti-Slavery Society banned women from joining so women abolitionists created their own equality group for both racial and gender equality (McKivigan).

Following the formation of the American Anti-Slavery Society, the Liberty Party was formed because of the dislike towards partisan politics. The goals of the Liberty Party were to revoke all types of slavery and end all discrimination. In an attempt to reach this goal, Liberty Party presidential candidate James G. Birney received only 7000 votes in 1940 which equaled to .29% and later in 1944 received 62,000 votes equaling to 2.31% (McKivigan). By having only one goal in mind, to end slavery, citizens of the United States were not convinced by this party.

The years 1835-1845 were filled with many attempts by the men, women, and new political parties to abolish slavery throughout the United States. Even though the attempts failed during this ten year time period, later in the 1860’s slavery was repealed and the Constitution was amended. The dedication to abolishing slavery paid off to make the United States of America “the land of the free.” home --Ashley H.