Samuel langhorne clemens november 30 1835 april 21 1910 known by his pen name mark twain was an american writer humorist entrepreneur publisher and lecturer he was lauded as the greatest humorist the united states has produced and william faulkner called him the father of american literature. Twain raised in slaveholding missouri grew up immersed in the virulent racism of the world around him.
He was a prominent humorist and he frequently published humorous stories under the name josh.
Was mark twain an abolitionist. The adventures of huckleberry finn by mark twain is considered a classic novel from the realism period of american literature that accurately depicts social conventions from pre civil war times. Was twain an abolitionist. Ken burns dayton duncan and geoffrey ward collaborated to produce mark twain a celebrated pbs documentary released in january 2002 mark twain carries viewers from rural missouri where samuel clemens spent his boyhood to an estate in connecticut where he raised his children and began to rethink his southern upbringings.
The editors of the mark twain papers and project are now using these manuscripts as well as letters photos and unpublished essays to explore how twain s life and work intersected with six of his famous contemporaries. The short answer is yes. 1400 words 6 pages.
His uncle john quarles enslaved 20 people so twain witnessed the practice of enslavement firsthand whenever he spent summers at his uncle s place. Barnum scientist nikola tesla writer and political activist helen keller writer and abolitionist frederick douglass writer and abolitionist harriet. His main pen name mark twain is a reference to an archaic expression used by boatmen on the river mississippi to measure the depth of the water.
Mark twain was a product of missouri a pro slavery state. Samuel clemens grew up in the antebellum south in missouri and his family owned slaves. This question the best one i ve ever received on the reference desk referred to mark twain.
His father was a judge but he also traded in enslaved people at times. Mark twain was an abolitionist and proponent of civil rights. Twain s eventual father in law jervis langdon of elmira was a passionate abolitionist who played a major role in douglass escape.
His novels include the adventures of tom sawyer 1876 and its sequel the. This same team was responsible for pbs documentaries such as the civil. Despite this reputation as a historical lens of life on the mississippi river elements of blatant.
The questioner was a student in high school about to read the adventures of huckleberry finn for the first time. Twain was an avid abolitionist anti racist and supporter of the emancipation of slaves.
