Charles Nilon's essay cited by Kevin Bochynski gives a stong account of the
relation between the Reconstruction and the ending of HF.  Two articles by
Larry Berkove are also of interest:

        "The 'Poor Players' of Huckleberry Finn."  Papers of the Michigan
        Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters 53 (1968): 291-310.

        "The Free Man of Color in The Grandissimes and Works by Harris and
Mark
        Twain." Southern Quarterly 18.4 (Summer 1980): 60-73.

Jim Leonard
The Citadel