James - Facts

 

James and Huck come from Hannibal in Missouri. This is where Mark Twain also grew up. 

Jim and Huck flee to Jackson's Island. This is based on real Pearl Island in Illinois. Pearl Island, also known as Glasscock Island, is a river island in the Mississippi River.

Jim admires John Locke. John Locke (29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of the Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "father of liberalism".

Jim was bought by entertainer Daniel Decatur Emmet. Daniel Decatur Emmett (October 29, 1815 – June 28, 1904) was an American composer, entertainer, and founder of the first troupe of the blackface minstrel tradition, the Virginia Minstrels. He is most remembered as the composer of the song "Dixie".

On December 20, 1860, the convention unanimously voted to secede and adopted a secession declaration. It argued for states' rights for slave owners but complained about states' rights in the North in the form of resistance to the federal Fugitive Slave Act, claiming that Northern states were not fulfilling their obligations to assist in the return of fugitive slaves. The "cotton states" of Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas followed suit, seceding in January and February 1861.
The Civil War breaks out at the end of the book.