You've probably heard the name "Mark Twain" before, probably because of he was the author to the famous Adventures of Hucklebury Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. So far, our textbook has mentioned the name a few times here when explaining certain political movements at the turn of the century. But who exactly was he?
Throughout his life, Twain was an author, riverboat pilot, journalist, lecturer, entrepreneur and inventor. His real name was actually Samuel Langhorne Clemens. He grew up poor, raised by a single mother (his father died of pneumonia when he was 12), and was frequently sick. He witnessed the bustling life of the riverside city of Hannibal, Missouri daily, with merchants and steamboats livening his days as a child. However, he also witnessed much violence, including watching a local man murder a cattle rancher, and a master beating a slave to death. He joined the Confederate Army, but his volunteer shift disbanded after only a few weeks, and he didn't look back. Eventually, he moved West, and became a journalist, where he created his pen name Mark Twain (steamboat slang for 12 feet of water) and became a popular newspaper writer.
Twain's politics were a bit confusing. He seemed to be a champion of workers, owners, and the capitalist rich, while holding views that opposed expansion of government, and promoted antislavery, and antiwar. Critics today say he was more conservative, but it's a bit confusing because the definitions of conservative and liberal were changing during his lifetime (indeed, they would soon completely switch with each other). He was against imperialism and war, and he founded the Anti-Imperialist League. He was all for specie, or hard money.
Mark Twain was a very interesting man, and even today we don't know everything about his stances on issues of his time. But we know his larger opinions on politics and life at the turn of the century due to his many works which are still famous in America today.
Interesting post! I was reading an article about how Twain's stance on Jews changed throughout his lifetime. As a child, he was anti-semitic and ridiculed the few Jewish families in his neighborhood. However, as he grew up, he seemed to have a change in heart, writing about how he respected Jews a lot as a race and admired how they had remained strong through their suffering. His most famous book defending Jews ultimately ended up alienating a lot of them, though. I think this really parallels the ideas in your article. He was really a confusing person with confusing ideas. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHere's the article I found:
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/mark-twain-and-the-jews
It was fascinating to learn more about Mark Twain and read about something other than his writing. I did not realize that the politics during the era were so interesting. It's ironic how the definition of liberalism changed so much, adding to the confusion of whether or not Mark Twain was liberal or not. Mark Twain lived at the cusp of two very different definitions of liberalism: anti government control and government regulated social welfare. This complete switch has made defining his political views difficult as there are many interpretations of what each political faction supported. This proves to show that the world is always changing and that maybe in a couple of years, what we perceive as liberal today could be considered conservative.
ReplyDeleteSource : https://mises.org/library/mark-twains-radical-liberalism
Bennett, your post was very interesting and helpful in providing some background about a well-known historical figure. I was intrigued by how Twain's political views seem to have been contradictory, as you mentioned how he fought for the rights of both the working class and the wealthy. Is this possibly because his views changed over time, like how he went from being in the Confederate army to supporting antislavery, or did Twain never take a definite stance on these issues?
ReplyDeleteBennett, I think that your post on Mark Twain's political views was very informative and interesting. I think that it is also interesting to examine exactly why Twain held such anti-Imperialist views. Twain, while working as a newspaper reporter in San Francisco, observed the police brutality on the Chinese population. He also grew to be amicable with fellow newspaper reporters, including the writers for a nearby abolitionist newspaper. I believe that it is this experience that led him to be more sympathetic to the needs of foreign people, thus shaping his anti-imperialist views.
ReplyDeleteSource: http://www.internationalist.org/marktwain3.html