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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC05847 |
| From Archive Folder | Documents Relating to the 1910s |
| Title | The suppressed chapter of "Life on the Mississippi" |
| Date | ca. 1910 |
| Author | Twain, Mark (1835-1910) |
| Additional authors | Clemens, Samuel (1835-1910) |
| Document Type | Pamphlet |
| Content Description | Leaflet consisting of the suppressed chapter of Twain's book Life on the Mississippi, which was published in 1883. First edition. Marked as number 230 of 250 numbered copies of the first printing. Comparing Northern and Southern society, Twain discusses public indifference. Criticizes the tendency for Southerners to maintain similar opinions and to vote the same way. Opens by stating "I missed one thing in the South- African slavery. That horror is gone, and permanently ... half the South is at last emancipated, half the South is free. But the white half is apparently as far from emancipation as ever." Twain also criticizes the fact that Southerners tend to vote alike in elections, and that dissent and discussion about elections and issues are not encouraged. |
| Subjects | Progressive Era Politics Government and Civics Election African American History Freemen Reconstruction Literature and Language Arts Art, Music, Theater, and Film Emancipation Slavery |
| People | Twain, Mark (1835-1910) |
| Place written | s.l. |
| Theme | Government & Politics; Arts & Literature; Slavery & Abolition; Reconstruction |
| Sub-collection | The Gilder Lehrman Collection, 1860-1945 |
| Additional Information | Preliminary research suggests that Twain's publisher felt the chapter's criticism of the incongruity between Southern codes of honor and gentility, on the one hand, and cruelty toward slaves, on the other, would raise the ire of readers in the South. The publisher therefore suppressed the chapter in order not to limit profits from Southern readers. |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945 |